16 May Honor Father and Mother (Part 2)
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” – Exodus 20:12
Q: What is the fifth commandment?
A: You shall honor your father and your mother, so that you will be well and live long on the earth.
What does this mean?
Because we worship and love God, we shouldn’t ignore or anger our parents, but we should honor, obey, love, and think highly of them.
The longer you live the more you experience in life. If you are ten years old, you probably have experienced going to school, making friends, using a little money to buy a few things, and learning to swim or ride a bike. If you have a baby sister or brother that is 18 months old, it’s easy to see that based on your experiences in life, you know more about how to live than they do. Makes sense right? A baby brother or sister has no clue how to ride a bike, go to school, or even tie their own shoes!
So if your life experience as a ten-year-old gives you more wisdom than a little brother or sister, how do you think that relates to your parents and your life?
Here is the thing: Your parents have been your age, but you have not been their age. Sometimes we think we know better than our parents (and truthfully, when your parents were your age they thought they knew better than their parents too!) but it’s important to remember that experience in life brings much wisdom. Since your parents know what it’s like to be your age and you don’t know what it’s like to be their age, it would be wise to listen to their words. This is one of the best ways that you can honor them.
Consider Proverbs 13:1 which says, “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”
- In what ways do your parents have more experience than you?
- In what ways have you seen your parents rebuke to be a blessing for you?
- Parents, share a story of how you saw the blessing of Proverbs 13:1 in your life when you were young. What wisdom did your parents impart to you? How could your children learn from that?
Prayer
Our Father, please help us to be more wise to listen to our parent’s instruction. As children, may we see their words as full of experience that we don’t possess and may that be attractive to us as we grow. Help us to grow and may we see our need for them and for you, God. Help parents love, serve, and guide to the best of their ability. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
