Joey & Carla Link
October 7, 2026
Have you ever had a child who wasn’t putting the dishes away properly as part of their regular daily chores? Then you go to open the cabinet, and everything falls out because your child didn’t put the dishes away the way you had trained them to.
We have, and it can be so frustrating! You give a child a chore, teach them how to do it, and they do it correctly for a few days. Then, two weeks later, they somehow seem to have forgotten how they are supposed to do it!
Why does this happen?
Wise King Solomon was a parent, and he must have dealt with issues like this too. He wrote in Proverbs 15:5, “A fool spurns a parent’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.”
So, the real question is: Do you have a child who will listen to you but then decide, based on their own “foolish” wisdom, that they know better than you? Do they decide they will do what they want instead of learning what you are trying to teach them?
What a child may not understand is that you aren’t really concerned about whether the dishes are put away. You are using the dishes as a tool to teach them responsibility, obedience, and submission to authority through the repetitive nature of putting the dishes away correctly, the way you have instructed them to.
On the other hand, a wise parent understands that it’s not always about what the child is doing but what the child is learning. Your goal is to teach them consistency, whether they like the task or not.
This is a great way to teach kids to keep working on their homework when they don’t understand it, or to continue practicing the piano or a sport when they get tired of practicing.
Do you remember the movie The Karate Kid? In the movie, Daniel wanted to learn karate so he could defend himself against bullies. He asked Mr. Miyagi to teach him, and Mr. Miyagi agreed. But instead of immediately teaching him karate, he had Daniel come over all week to wash and wax his car and paint his fence using specific motions.
On the third day, Daniel told Mr. Miyagi that he was happy to do all of this for him, but then asked when he was going to teach him karate. Mr. Miyagi then showed Daniel how the work he had been doing was actually teaching him the basic karate movements he needed.
Your child may not understand the basic lesson you are trying to teach them. After they have been doing their chores for a week or two, sit down with them and explain why you are giving them these tasks. It’s about more than simply helping you around the house. You are teaching them obedience, submission, responsibility, consistency, and commitment.
Are your kids more characterized by spurning your teaching, discipline, and correction, or are they more characterized by showing prudence and wisdom by heeding your correction and instructions?
“A fool spurns a parent’s discipline,
but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.”
Proverbs 15:5
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Developing My Child’s Responsibility Gene
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