We see them in the assembly. We see them in summer camp. We see them in school. Undisciplined children. Some of them have absolutely no respect for authority. Others are disorderly, not only in their behavior, but in their dress and work. Their lives are characterized by disorder. Their rooms at home look like a bomb exploded. Their school books are chaotic. They are never on time, and they watch violent and strange TV programs by the hour. The list could go on and on, but generally speaking we see children who, unless a change is made, are headed for a life of disorder, chaos, and sorrow.
Where do these children come from? The truth is that the majority of them come from undisciplined parents. Parents whose lives are also chaotic. Fathers whose lives are frantic, and who do not have the discipline to discipline their own lives, let alone their children’s lives. (Prov. 13:24: Eph. 6:4) Mothers who are not keepers of the home (Titus 2:5), and who themselves have little order in their lives. Parents who have no consistent attendance at the assembly, and whose schedule is so full that it leaves little time for spiritual things, and for the children. As such, children are left to raise themselves in an atmosphere where no one tells them the boundaries, and hence they are not taught to determine right and wrong.
Children are usually a reflection of their parents. (Eph. 5: 1) Undisciplined children usually come from undisciplined parents.