Serving God and Loving Him
A Commitment to Obeying
Honoring Your Parents
Exodus 20:12
The fifth Commandment turns to rules for living in the world, so to speak. The first four Commandments deal with what God requires in serving Him, and of course, we know that we could speak for days and not cover everything that it really takes to totally serve Him. The fifth Commandment goes directly to the point of what a child should do in his life concerning his/her parents. “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
If there is anything in this world that really gets neglected is that many parents or most of us do not enforce the fact, with their children, that they are required, of God, to honor them with obedience. Is this totally the children’s fault? We can all say that each person, even children, have the right to make decisions. Many will make choices that are not good in their lives, but usually wrong choices are made because parents drop the ball. We can find scripture throughout God’s Word that tells us how to raise a child. What happened to the generation of kids that new that obeying and honoring your Mom, Dad, Grandparents, and adults in general was an understood thing? That generation still exists today. That generation of kids is parents or grandparents today. We knew when Mom or Dad told us to do something that there was no arguing about it. We just did it! As a teenager, my mother had strict rules for me. I was not allowed to go to the skating rink, which was only a half a mile away from me until I turned 16. There wasn’t anything wrong with skating, in my mind, but when Mom said no, she meant it. My mother required so much respect from my brother and I that if we thought a smart thought, we were slapped before we knew how to say the thought. What’s wrong with this picture?
Many so-called scholars would tell us that discipline and spanking kids is emotional and physical abuse to children. However, the scripture tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV). The key to this whole statement is the world ‘train’. The scripture also tells us, “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell, (Proverbs 23:13 – 14 KJV). How does a parent train his/her child to honor them with obedience? Solomon goes into great detail with showing parents how to train their children. The key to raising obedient children is discipline, and God is very big on it. He told us, through Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, that a very good tool to train a child with is using the rod when it is necessary. In fact He tells us if we do not discipline or children by spanking that that we do not love our children. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (Proverbs 13:24 KJV).” Parents should also own up to the fact that we teach our kids to disrespect us and not obey us, by our actions toward God. OUR ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. If we, as adults, cannot obey God, then why do we think our children will be obedient to us? Raising a child is not an easy thing to do. In fact, I can remember when my mom would tell me, just before I took a good swat with the belt. ‘This is hurting me more that it is you.’ I did not understand that fact until I gave my own child a good spanking. Children, now, are just as we were when we were kids. They have the same ideas we had by seeing just how much they can to get by with. Just as all of us parents were, they also were conceived in sin.
Kids do not take responsibility for their actions today, because they are trained to be that way by their parents. We are quicker to take up for them and defend them than we are to hold them accountable. When a child is an infant, the mom and dad are so proud. I dare say that it may take a couple of weeks to finally soak in that the child is a responsibility, but it takes years to find out that they are big responsibilities. My laughing joke is that the only bad thing about babies, besides the dirty diapers, is eventually they grow into a hormonal maniac called a teenager. Remember when you mom would say, “One day you will pay for your raising with children of your own?” I’m not trying to say that children are not a blessing from God, because they are, without any reservations. God puts these children in our lives so we can “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4 KJV). They are God’s children given to us to raise the way HE wants them to be. Unfortunately, many of us fail this great test.
So, how do we raise them to be obedient and respectful to parents and adults in general? We do this by being obedient ourselves; to God. Parents cannot tell children, “Do what I say and not what I do.” This simply does not work. If we do not have discipline in our lives, how can we expect our children to obey? The writer of Hebrews, which I believe is Paul, talks about the Lord disciplining HIS children. Paul writes, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live,” (Hebrews 12:6 – 9KJV)?
Any teen or young child that reads this might think they have excuses for the way they live, but they don’t. I know that I have drastically failed my kids in parts of their lives, just as many parents feel they have done also. However, the fact still remains that they have to make choices just as we did when we were their age, but we can teach them the difference between right and wrong by showing them how to be obedient and how to be held accountable. The Lord holds HIS children accountable, just as we need to hold our children accountable.
Children need to be taught that for every action, there is a reaction in anything that is done. This applies to everyone; adults and kids. Rejecting Christ guarantees a person who dies with that action, an eternity in hell. Kids can be lead toward Christ with discipline in their lives. Solomon said, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him,” (Proverbs 22:15), and then he gives another answer by saying, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame,” (Proverbs 29:15 KJV). These answers are a full proof plan on how to get a child headed in the right direction in their lives.
Honoring our parents is a never ending thing. We should always honor them; even when they make mistakes. Marriage or leaving home to live your own life does mean we have the right to disrespect our parents. Obeying our parents is the right thing to do, in the sight of God. How do we honor them? We honor them by obeying them as we obey God. Being obedient to God is a way to be closer to God. That’s what the Ten Commandments are written by God for. They teach us how to become closer to God with obedience in our lives. Remember; The Ten Commandments are laws with purpose.
A Commitment to Obeying
Honoring Your Parents
Exodus 20:12
The fifth Commandment turns to rules for living in the world, so to speak. The first four Commandments deal with what God requires in serving Him, and of course, we know that we could speak for days and not cover everything that it really takes to totally serve Him. The fifth Commandment goes directly to the point of what a child should do in his life concerning his/her parents. “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
If there is anything in this world that really gets neglected is that many parents or most of us do not enforce the fact, with their children, that they are required, of God, to honor them with obedience. Is this totally the children’s fault? We can all say that each person, even children, have the right to make decisions. Many will make choices that are not good in their lives, but usually wrong choices are made because parents drop the ball. We can find scripture throughout God’s Word that tells us how to raise a child. What happened to the generation of kids that new that obeying and honoring your Mom, Dad, Grandparents, and adults in general was an understood thing? That generation still exists today. That generation of kids is parents or grandparents today. We knew when Mom or Dad told us to do something that there was no arguing about it. We just did it! As a teenager, my mother had strict rules for me. I was not allowed to go to the skating rink, which was only a half a mile away from me until I turned 16. There wasn’t anything wrong with skating, in my mind, but when Mom said no, she meant it. My mother required so much respect from my brother and I that if we thought a smart thought, we were slapped before we knew how to say the thought. What’s wrong with this picture?
Many so-called scholars would tell us that discipline and spanking kids is emotional and physical abuse to children. However, the scripture tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV). The key to this whole statement is the world ‘train’. The scripture also tells us, “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell, (Proverbs 23:13 – 14 KJV). How does a parent train his/her child to honor them with obedience? Solomon goes into great detail with showing parents how to train their children. The key to raising obedient children is discipline, and God is very big on it. He told us, through Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, that a very good tool to train a child with is using the rod when it is necessary. In fact He tells us if we do not discipline or children by spanking that that we do not love our children. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (Proverbs 13:24 KJV).” Parents should also own up to the fact that we teach our kids to disrespect us and not obey us, by our actions toward God. OUR ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. If we, as adults, cannot obey God, then why do we think our children will be obedient to us? Raising a child is not an easy thing to do. In fact, I can remember when my mom would tell me, just before I took a good swat with the belt. ‘This is hurting me more that it is you.’ I did not understand that fact until I gave my own child a good spanking. Children, now, are just as we were when we were kids. They have the same ideas we had by seeing just how much they can to get by with. Just as all of us parents were, they also were conceived in sin.
Kids do not take responsibility for their actions today, because they are trained to be that way by their parents. We are quicker to take up for them and defend them than we are to hold them accountable. When a child is an infant, the mom and dad are so proud. I dare say that it may take a couple of weeks to finally soak in that the child is a responsibility, but it takes years to find out that they are big responsibilities. My laughing joke is that the only bad thing about babies, besides the dirty diapers, is eventually they grow into a hormonal maniac called a teenager. Remember when you mom would say, “One day you will pay for your raising with children of your own?” I’m not trying to say that children are not a blessing from God, because they are, without any reservations. God puts these children in our lives so we can “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4 KJV). They are God’s children given to us to raise the way HE wants them to be. Unfortunately, many of us fail this great test.
So, how do we raise them to be obedient and respectful to parents and adults in general? We do this by being obedient ourselves; to God. Parents cannot tell children, “Do what I say and not what I do.” This simply does not work. If we do not have discipline in our lives, how can we expect our children to obey? The writer of Hebrews, which I believe is Paul, talks about the Lord disciplining HIS children. Paul writes, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live,” (Hebrews 12:6 – 9KJV)?
Any teen or young child that reads this might think they have excuses for the way they live, but they don’t. I know that I have drastically failed my kids in parts of their lives, just as many parents feel they have done also. However, the fact still remains that they have to make choices just as we did when we were their age, but we can teach them the difference between right and wrong by showing them how to be obedient and how to be held accountable. The Lord holds HIS children accountable, just as we need to hold our children accountable.
Children need to be taught that for every action, there is a reaction in anything that is done. This applies to everyone; adults and kids. Rejecting Christ guarantees a person who dies with that action, an eternity in hell. Kids can be lead toward Christ with discipline in their lives. Solomon said, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him,” (Proverbs 22:15), and then he gives another answer by saying, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame,” (Proverbs 29:15 KJV). These answers are a full proof plan on how to get a child headed in the right direction in their lives.
Honoring our parents is a never ending thing. We should always honor them; even when they make mistakes. Marriage or leaving home to live your own life does mean we have the right to disrespect our parents. Obeying our parents is the right thing to do, in the sight of God. How do we honor them? We honor them by obeying them as we obey God. Being obedient to God is a way to be closer to God. That’s what the Ten Commandments are written by God for. They teach us how to become closer to God with obedience in our lives. Remember; The Ten Commandments are laws with purpose.
.JPG)
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