Introduction:
One of
our challenges for 2014 is to learn and live all 50 commands of Jesus. Jesus told us that following his
commandments is a way to love him and a way for his love and his joy to fill
our lives (John 15:9-12). In his Great Commission, Jesus tells his
followers to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything he
commanded us (Matthew 28:19-20). So each week in this year we are
learning and living one command of Jesus. Here is our command for this
week...
Week 5:
“Honor
your father and mother…” (Matthew 19:19).
Application:
Honoring
our parents is a big deal to God. Perhaps
it’s such a big deal to God because honoring our parents is the training ground
for how we will honor (or dishonor) our heavenly Father. This command first appears as one of the Ten
Commandments. Jesus reinforces it here as
a central command.
What does
it mean to honor our parents? Partly, honoring
means speaking well of them and politely to them. It also means acting in a way that shows them
courtesy and respect.
Parents
have a huge responsibility. Parents are
commanded by God to teach their children (Deuteronomy 6:7), train their children
(Ephesians 6:4), and discipline their children (Hebrews 12:7). This is a tough job. It requires a lot of time, energy, money, and
sacrifice. It involves joys as well as
heartaches. Now that I am a parent of
two, I have a greater appreciation of what my parents did for me.
Just as
our parents cared for us when we were young, we should care for them when they
get older. Jesus made this point in
Matthew 15:5-6. There were some
religious people who were trying to justify why they were not financially
caring for their aging parents. Jesus
said they were dishonoring their parents.
If your
parents have passed on, maybe there is an elderly person you can adopt as your
mom or dad. When I visit nursing homes,
I am often sad to see that many residents don’t have regular visitors. Maybe there is an elderly person you can
honor by visiting them or helping care for them.
I realize
that parents can be difficult to get along with. Some parents may not deserve our honor. Nevertheless, even those who find it
difficult to get along with their parents are still commanded to honor
them. After all, think about how God
chooses to love us, forgive us, save us, and bless us even when we do not
deserve it.
How can
you be intentional this week about honoring your parents or a parental figure?
Share your comments and application ideas...
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