JULY 18
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT WITH A PROMISE
Ephesians 6:1-4
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: 3 “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.” 4 You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (WEB)
We live in a generation witnessing a concerning rise in family breakdowns. In many Western societies, divorce rates are approaching 50% of all marriages. More children are growing up in homes where one parent is absent. Never before has a generation faced such a challenge when it comes to understanding today’s Bible readings.
Paul reminds the Ephesians church about the importance of honoring their mother and father. Of course, Paul refers to the fifth commandment of the ten God gave to Moses in Exodus 20. It is the only one of the Ten Commandments that has a promise of blessing connected to it.
Over the past 27+ years of our ministry, we have taught extensively about the benefits of honoring our parents. Here are a few questions we've received repeatedly from well-meaning believers who find it difficult to apply today's Scripture reading: How do we honor mothers or fathers who have hurt us? Is honoring them a way of endorsing their inappropriate behavior? What if I can't think of anything positive about them to honor?
These are genuine questions that, unfortunately, don't always have straightforward answers. I know that God's command to honor our parents does NOT mean we approve of their bad behavior. Honoring means respecting the office they hold. Paul told the church in Rome to respect the pagan government (Romans 13:1-7), even though they were killing Christians. Their respect was not an endorsement but an acknowledgment of the authority God had given them.
Likewise, it delights our Heavenly Father's heart when we honor the authority our mother and father hold in our lives. Whether we know our biological parents or not, and regardless of how they treated us, God still used our parents to give us life. If we cannot thank God for anything else, let us thank Him for the gift of life we received through them.
Most of us can be thankful for much more than just the life we received from our parents. If we ask God for His heart for our parents, we might be surprised by what we discover. If we realize that they were once little boys and girls just like us, who looked to their parents for love, we might better understand any love deficits they passed on to us along the way.
My prayer today is that we all ask God for a heart to honor our parents. May every love deficit we have received from our parents be overwhelmed by the eternal love that our Heavenly Father has for us. May we become so filled with God's love that we turn our hearts toward our parents to bless and honor them, so that we can see the fulfillment of the last prophetic word found in the Old Testament.
Malachi 4:5-6
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” (WEB)
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: 3 “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.” 4 You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (WEB)
We live in a generation witnessing a concerning rise in family breakdowns. In many Western societies, divorce rates are approaching 50% of all marriages. More children are growing up in homes where one parent is absent. Never before has a generation faced such a challenge when it comes to understanding today’s Bible readings.
Paul reminds the Ephesians church about the importance of honoring their mother and father. Of course, Paul refers to the fifth commandment of the ten God gave to Moses in Exodus 20. It is the only one of the Ten Commandments that has a promise of blessing connected to it.
Over the past 27+ years of our ministry, we have taught extensively about the benefits of honoring our parents. Here are a few questions we've received repeatedly from well-meaning believers who find it difficult to apply today's Scripture reading: How do we honor mothers or fathers who have hurt us? Is honoring them a way of endorsing their inappropriate behavior? What if I can't think of anything positive about them to honor?
These are genuine questions that, unfortunately, don't always have straightforward answers. I know that God's command to honor our parents does NOT mean we approve of their bad behavior. Honoring means respecting the office they hold. Paul told the church in Rome to respect the pagan government (Romans 13:1-7), even though they were killing Christians. Their respect was not an endorsement but an acknowledgment of the authority God had given them.
Likewise, it delights our Heavenly Father's heart when we honor the authority our mother and father hold in our lives. Whether we know our biological parents or not, and regardless of how they treated us, God still used our parents to give us life. If we cannot thank God for anything else, let us thank Him for the gift of life we received through them.
Most of us can be thankful for much more than just the life we received from our parents. If we ask God for His heart for our parents, we might be surprised by what we discover. If we realize that they were once little boys and girls just like us, who looked to their parents for love, we might better understand any love deficits they passed on to us along the way.
My prayer today is that we all ask God for a heart to honor our parents. May every love deficit we have received from our parents be overwhelmed by the eternal love that our Heavenly Father has for us. May we become so filled with God's love that we turn our hearts toward our parents to bless and honor them, so that we can see the fulfillment of the last prophetic word found in the Old Testament.
Malachi 4:5-6
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” (WEB)