The Fifth Commandment – Part 2
The command to honor our parents is written for all of us. It is an encouragement to children to respect their parents. But there is also an implied instruction for the parents.
The Fifth Commandment – Part 2
I had planned on moving on to the sixth commandment today, but I think I’d like to linger here on the fifth commandment—“Honor your father and your mother”—for just one more day.
The command to honor our parents is written for all of us. It is an encouragement to children to respect their parents. But there is also an implied instruction for the parents. As parents, we need to live our lives in a way that is worthy of the honor we are given.
In other words, we are the model from which our children learn. The reason children are told to honor their parents is because it is assumed that parents will be teaching them godly things. Parenting shapes the future. Through the family, a culture either rises to great heights or lowers itself to ugly depths.
Our children learn life through us. Is prayer important to you? Then your children will likely want to learn to pray. Is church a vital part of your life? Then your children will likely learn to love it as well. Do you read the Bible every day? When your children see you with God’s Word, they will come to desire it too.
It is you whom your children are watching. They will learn from what they see. Teach them to give glory to God, and you will be blessed by the way they honor you. Teach them to ignore God, and they will fall away. Pray for them and teach them the Word—it will stay with them forever.
Deuteronomy 6:6–7
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
