Honor Dad and Mom! Why do we need to do this? Probably because God has told us to honor our father and mother. The next question is how do we do this? You can start by obeying them, loving them, being understanding of them when you don't agree with what they are doing or saying, being willing to forgive them when they are wrong, showing them respect as your senior, the list could go on for a long time, but you get the picture.
We as parents are not always right when we want something done or corrected, but one thing is for sure. We have our child's best interest at heart. Most parents would give their life for their children. They sacrifice a lot while their children are with them, because they want their children to have more than they did as a child. You as the children may not always see eye to eye with your parents. I know that I didn't, but we are still to show them respect.
Your parents are probably not going to live as long as you do. How you treat them now will come back to you after they are gone. All you have to do is listen to people who have lost their parents. Almost all of them wish they had treated them better. I know I do! But when they are gone, it's too late to let them know how much they meant to you. God doesn't want us to live with this guilt, so that is why He tells us to honor them. How many times have we said "if I could just go back and do it over"? Well unfortunately, we cannot reverse time. We need to always know that God has our best interest in mind when He tells us what He expects from us.
To start with, we look at one of the Ten Commandments.
Exodus;20:12
(Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.)
When the children were to enter The Promise Land, God gave them this law that they were to abide by. If you broke this law, severe consequences would result which could include a child being executed. You might say that this is to severe, but who are we to question God? Moses again had to remind the people of this commandment in the Book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy;5:16
(Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.)
So we see that the people had need to review the Laws.
I personally feel that we have the problems in our society that we do because respect for our parents has not been instilled in our children. They have grown up without being disciplined for wrongs they have committed. We are a product of our own doing. Society will not let parents discipline their children for fear of child abuse. Child abuse is a sad fact of our society and those children do need to be protected. However, when we stop all discipline unilaterally, we as a society have put ourselves in grave danger of total moral collapse. If you don't believe me, just look around at what has happened since we stopped all discipline, not only in our homes, but our schools as well.
God also has given us a promise if we honor our parents.
Ephesians;6:1-3
(Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth".)
Hopefully by obeying our parents, they will give us good advice on how to live. If we live our life as God wants us too, He promises that we will live long upon the earth. This is God's plan for our life, but we must obey. When we don't obey, then we deal with the consequences of disobedience. These are not ever good.
As parents, God tells us not to exasperate or provoke our children.
This is a quote from John MacArthur "The apostle makes it clear that a Christian father's authority over his children does not allow for unreasonable demands and strictures that might drive his children to anger, despair, and resentment.
They still need to have a childhood and grow into the adult world. They are never an adult at ten years old or fifteen years old, no matter what they think. Yes they are maturing, but at the pace God has planned for children to mature. So we have a give and take with our children. God expects us to discipline them for their own good They are to honor their parents for their own good. We are to let them mature at the pace God has planned. We are not to push them beyond what they are able to handle for the good of their self esteem.
I'm not a child therapist, but from what I read in God's Word, I know that He knows what is best for our children, as well as for us. We need to pray for our children and ourselves that we will be obedient to the commandments of our God.
God Bless You!
No comments:
Post a Comment