“Honor your father and mother”–which is the first commandment with a promise–Ephesians 6:2 (NIV)
Yesterday we talked about what honor is. Today we’re going to talk about one of the people that should be honored in your life, your parents. Now, I’m sure you could list a lot of reasons why your parents don’t deserve to be honored.
Maybe your mom isn’t serving God and lies, cheats, and steals. Or perhaps your dad left your family and you don’t feel like he is honorable at all.
If we’re honest, we could probably think of a long list of reasons why our parents don’t deserve to be honored. But God didn’t give us an out. He didn’t say honor your parents if they deserve it. He just told us to honor them.
If God told us to honor them, then it’s something we can do. We just have to determine to look past their imperfections and the things we’d like to change about them. Instead, we just honor the place they have in our lives.
Honor doesn’t mean you always agree but rather that you respect the place your parents have in your life.
So even if you have a bad mom or dad, they still are the reason you’re here today. And because of that, you’re to show them respect. That doesn’t mean that you have to agree with the things they do. It does mean that you treat them with respect in the middle of your disagreement.
If you want to lash out, choose to control your tongue and say your thoughts with respect. Honor the place they have in your life. As you do that, you’ll find that you’re a lot more at peace and things go better for you as a result.
