Phase II
Ex.20:12 “Honour your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Yesterday, we established that the command, “honour your father and mother” translates to different things in different phases of life. Honour your father and mother to children simply means, do what they ask of you.
Phase I
Ex.20:12 “Honour your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Honour your father and mother means give way to their person and have regard for them. I have come to discover that this translates to different things in different phases of life.
Fitting
Rom. 13:7 (NRSV) “Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due.”
Respect is impartial but honour is subjective. Respect is impartial meaning you really do not need to like a person to respect him or her. God wants us to regard our parents as weighty even though that might not be the case.
Given vs. Earned
Ex.20:12 “Honour your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
I perceive that the question on a lot of our minds since we began to talk about the fifth commandment is, how can a Christian honour a dishonourable teacher, or a dishonourable boss, or a dishonourable head of department, or a dishonourable parent, or honour a dishonourable president? Read the rest of this entry
“Good-est!”
1 John 3:1 [NIV] “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are…”
My advice to parents is to do your best to be impartial in your dealings with your children. I applaud the parents that claim not to have a favourite child and I think it is really commendable.
For Your Good
Ps.139:3 “You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.”
God has given you this commandment so that it will be well with you and with your children. It is love to teach this commandment to your children, because it will do them good. The reality is that we are not doing our parents a favour by honouring them.
Lead-A-Sheep!
Prov. 22:6 (MSG) “Point your kids in the right direction—when they’re old they won’t be lost.”
Your first experience of a person of authority shapes your reaction to other authorities. Our parents are the first authority figures in our lives. Our experiences with our parents shape our experiences with God and with authority to a very large extent.
Begins At Home
John 14:15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.”
The deepest question every Christian will have to answer is “me or Jesus?” Is it going to be my way or is it going to be His ways? Is it going to be my idea or is it going to be His ideas? The Ten Commandments is a blow out of the struggle between “me or Jesus?”
Gift Rest
Matt.11:28 “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Helping another person find rest actually gives glory to God. There are people around you that need rest; locate them and take practical steps to help them find rest. Single parenting in my opinion is one of the toughest jobs on earth.
Find Rest
Ex.20: 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested.”
Find time to rest! This is not a suggestion, it is an instruction. Rest is not the exclusive preserve for a privileged few. If you are a student, resting would mean taking a break from studying and just playing.
