Contrary vs. Rebellious

Although a young child being contrary and a person being rebellious may look similar and might have similar results, I think there’s an important difference between them. One is a youngster trying to find his or her identity in disagreement, simply for its own sake. The other is someone having already made up his or her mind as to what he or she wants and resenting authority because that authority blocks them from achieving their stated goal. We may chuckle at the first, which is merely a game kids play; but the second is much more serious. Unfortunately, we have many in our culture who are making their own rules today. They tend to associate with those who agree with them, in many cases to their own peril and destruction. I the first case, it's fairly easy to set the child straight. Correction in the second case, however, is much more difficult.