Honour Your Mother and Your Father

 

Ephesians 6:1-4 

1  Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou may live long on the earth. 4 And, you fathers, provoke not your children to anger: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 

 

The commandment from the Lord

 

When God spoke the Ten Commandments to the Children of Israel from a cloud of smoke on mount Saini. One of the Commandments given was to Honour (obey) your Mother and Father.

Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 

This Commandment taught God’s children to respect authority and is the first Commandment of promise.

 

Obeying Your Parents is Obeying God

 

In this day and age that we are living in children are growing more and more disobedient to their parents.

In some cultures, the children are becoming more disobedient at a younger age, while in other cultures the children remain obedient till much older.

As to why this is another topic but it can be seen even in Christian families across the world.

One thing that children must remember is that obeying your parents is a God-given Command, and as such to obey your parents is to obey God.

 

Adults Need to Obey Their Parents Too

 

At first, glance when reading these verses you could be forgiven for thinking that because you are an adult it doesn’t apply to you.

The thing is it doesn’t say “little children” or even “young children”, and when God said it in Exodus 20:12 He simply says “Honour thy father and thy mother”.

So that means no matter how old you are if your parents are still alive then you should honour them.

 

Only Obey if it’s God’s Will

 

You may be saying right now, “I can’t obey my parents because they are asking me to do something which is not right”. If that is the case and what you are being told to is sinful then you must respectfully refuse.

God will not hold you at fault for refusing to sin. This refusal may lead to some rough treatment from your parent depending on the type of people they are. If this is the case then you must endure it with meekness even though you are in the right. Jesus did this for us!

 

The Reward for Your Obedience

 

This verse is known as the commandment of promise because it says if you are obedient in honouring your Father and Mother, God promises you a long life.

……that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

But that also means that if you are disobedient to your parents then your life may be cut short or you will outside of the promise of God in other words.

 

Don’t Provoke you Children

 

Ephesians 6:4 also has a special message for fathers, it says:

And, you fathers, provoke not your children to anger: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

This is saying fathers should not be constantly getting at their children, making unreasonable requests and treating them harshly.

Fathers should be training their children to live godly lives, they should correct and discipline their children, warning and rebuking ungodly behaviour.

 

Time to make Amends

Many children young and old saved and unsaved are harbouring bitterness towards their parents. Some have not spoken to their parents for years because of some feud or hurt caused from way back.

 

I would just like to say to that person, no matter what, without your parents, you wouldn’t be here. Some people who have lost their parents would give anything to be able to speak to them once more.

 

Before it’s too late and they are no longer here, reach out to them and honour them. Speak blessings into their lives and forgive any hurt that was caused because that is what we are commanded to do. That’s what Jesus would do.

 

Please share this blog with your friends because someone needs to hear this now! 

Written By

Pastor Donovan Benjamin