Fathers and Mothers: Devotions from Time of GraceSample

Being a Child of Parents: Honor Your Father and Mother

If you surveyed one hundred teenagers about their parents, how many would respond, “My parents are precious, valuable people whom God has given to me for my good. I appreciate their guidance, life principles, correction, and rules”? Hah! Probably not too many. Sadly, parents are more likely seen as jailers or parole officers who arbitrarily limit children’s freedom.

The God I know, however, thinks parents are worthy of praise and wants you to think so too. (By the way, this is not just for little kids and teenagers; this is also for you in your 40s, 50s, and 60s.)

“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 5:16).

This is not just the right thing to do so God won’t be angry with you and punish you. Honoring your parents triggers the release of a flood of benefit into your life. God has attached a double promise to parent-respecters:
--I will increase the quantity of your life.
--I will increase the quality of your life.

What does it mean to honor your parents? It means cultivating a spirit of gratitude, because they have done far more for you than you will ever know. Because they have made sacrifices you only partially understand to bring you benefit. If it is from them that you first heard about Jesus, it is they who gave you heaven.