In the sermon 'Child Training 101-3 Consistency' by Steve Hopkins, the importance of teaching children to understand and obey the command 'no' is emphasized. Hopkins discusses how parents are best equipped to determine the right age for their child to grasp this concept, highlighting that obedience should be taught as soon as a child can mentally understand commands. The sermon uses Ephesians 6:1 to underline that children should obey their parents as this is the right thing to do, ultimately aiming to teach them about God's authority. Hopkins stresses the need for consistency and follow-through in parenting, cautioning against teaching children that 'no' can be ignored. He references Proverbs 29:15 and 13:24 to show that discipline, when grounded in love, is essential for a child's wisdom and growth. The sermon concludes with the notion that consistent correction leads to rest and delight for parents, as stated in Proverbs 29:17.

We've been talking about the early days of child training in the lives of our children and in the last session I stressed the importance of teaching our children to obey the command no as soon as they're able to understand it and How parents you know know their child the best they know their children the best they're the ones who need to make the assessment of what age that is for each particular child, some of course understanding earlier and some later the word of the command no. But every child should be taught that no means no as soon as they're able to mentally grasp the command. Ephesians 6.1 tells us that children are to obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right. So it's the right thing to do. And I said in our last session, ultimately we're hoping to teach our children about God, that's what we should be doing.

And when God says no to His children, He's to be obeyed. He's to be obeyed even when we, His children, don't understand His command or why He's commanding us something. And I said, we don't need to wait until a child can carry on a conversation with us before we begin to teach them obedience, but as soon as they're able to mentally grasp our command. So like whether they're arching their back, I don't know how many times I've been through that with the little ones. They don't want to do what they're being told to do.

So the back is arched and they throw their stomach out, you know, if anybody else had that happen, any other children, you know, they're trying to get down out of your lap, you know, they want to get out of your lap and they're going to force their way out of your lap or whether they're trying to, you know, roll over when maybe you're changing their diaper, and they wanna roll over, you don't want them to roll over or what have you. Or if they're reaching out to lay hold of something, you say, don't touch, for whatever reason, don't touch. They need to learn to obey your command. And of course, we aren't teaching our child that no means never. You know, I don't even think that a child really grasps the difference between no and never, but they get that as they get older.

But, you know, we're not teaching them that no means never. No doesn't mean that they can, for instance, never roll over again, or they can never get out of your lap again, or that they can never touch something again. There are gonna be things that they can never touch, but they'll learn that as they get older. But a child comes to understand fairly quickly that No means to stop whatever they're doing at that particular time. What they're in the process of doing at that moment, whether it's throwing a fit or reaching out for something you've said don't touch, or whether your child is just about to put that half-eaten candy cane in their mouth that they just found underneath the couch from last Christmas, you know, that was there, it's all covered with lint.

They need to be able to understand that no means no. And I want to stress this morning the need for consistency and follow-through. Parents need to be careful to follow through. And it's one thing to say no, and then it's another thing to teach your child that no doesn't really mean no. You can go ahead and do it.

We've all seen this with parents in the supermarket. They try to give a basic command of the child, and they don't listen to anything the parents are saying. Nothing that they're saying at all. Because they've been taught that no doesn't really mean no. No is not gonna be backed up, it's not gonna be backed up, so you can do whatever you wanna do.

This isn't to say, of course, that you're gonna have perfect success, you're not going to, you know? There were a friend of mine telling me about, I was trying to do my child training right, I was trying to teach them, you know, no means no, and I'm trying to discipline them right and everything. And he says I'm standing there at HEB one day, he goes and I look back and my three-year-old is on the floor with his face to the ground trying to pull gum off of the, with his teeth, off of the floor with his teeth. So, you know, you're not always gonna be perfectly successful, right? But then you can, you have a chance and an opportunity then to work through that with the child.

We need to be consistent. We need to follow through. We give a command to one of our children and not teach our child by neglecting discipline that our words mean nothing. We need to be prepared to follow through when we give a command and we need to be consistent. Consistency really is very, very important.

Proverbs 29, 15 tells us that the rod and reproof give wisdom, but that a child that's left to himself is going to bring his mother to shame, maybe even his father. Proverbs 13, 24 tells us that the parent who spares his Rod hates his child, but the parent who loves his son or daughter will be diligent and prompt when correction and discipline is needed. And never forget, of course, that all reproof and correction must be grounded in love for our children." I always want to stress this. You have the harsh, authoritarian, disciplinarian father, sometimes mother, and it just doesn't work because it's not God's way. We're not really representing God, our Father, to them.

Proverbs 312 tells us that the Lord reproves the child that he loves. I continually reprove and chase the Son whom I love, just as a Father, the Son in whom he delights. And then finally, when we as Father and mothers follow through and are consistent in correcting our children, they will give us rest. They're gonna give us rest. Proverbs 29, 17 says, correct, or your version might say discipline, your Son, and He will give you rest.

And it goes on to say, he will give delight to your heart.