More than just blind faith
How often have we asked a child to follow us blindly? We don't tell him what the final goal is or what outcome we want to see in his behavior. We state his need to change, but he doesn't get the purpose for that change. We say, "Pick up your stuff." When he asks why, we answer, "Because I said so."
But every child needs to understand where we are leading him. His heart has to be in the right place, as well as his actions. Children cannot be expected to extrapolate deeper meaning behind your requests. A clearer statement would be, "I need you to pick up your things because the family room belongs to the whole family, and we respect everyone's right to have a clean space."
Giving a child the reason why you are expecting good behavior will help him follow through well because he will see the bigger picture. If we continually demand obedience without explanation, the child will be doing the right action, but his heart may not be obeying because he does not fully understand.
Though there are times we may expect obedience without explanation, the more we can help a child understand why we desire acceptable behavior, the less he will end up following blindly. Give your child insight into the reasons why he must obey, and he will connect that lesson with the right behavior.