By David ReayTuesday 12 Mar 2019LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 2 minutes
Read Deuteronomy 5:16
“Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (NLT)
“The world is passing through troubled times. Young people think only of themselves, having no respect for parents or old age. They are impatient of restraint, talk as if they know everything, and treat older people’s wisdom as stupidity.”
Sounds like a normal commentary on relationships today. Except it was part of a sermon of a man called Peter the Hermit who preached it in 1274! It seems that parent-child issues have been around for some time.
While we are to honour our parents, the shape of that honouring will change as children grow. Obedience may be right at one time but not at another time. Children have to carve out their own lives free of parental control. This command doesn’t give parents the absolute right to rule their children at all times. The challenging task of parenthood is to exercise control in such a way that the child won’t need it any more.
It may be best to see honouring as respecting. At every season of life, children are to respect their parents. And we need note the Bible urges parents to be worthy of that respect. This matters because the way parents and children relate has wider impact on the wider human family. Dysfunctional families wreak havoc on society.
So at all times we respect our parents. But at different times, we show that respect in different ways.
Blessings
David Reay