Honor Your
Father And Mother Privilege and Duty
Honor Your Father and Mother There is an ongoing debate on filial piety. Singapore is one of the fastest aging societies in the world, making the issue of adult children who will not support aging parents much sharper and more critical. Legislations enabling aged parents to compel their children who are not doing so to provide materially for them had been passed into law. But the debate rages on. Can you really legislate love for parents? For Christians, filial piety is not just a desired Asian virtue. God has put a high priority on family relationships throughout life. He has given us a simple direct command concerning parents: “Honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20:12). Parents set the example. Parents set the example. Dad and Mom are to show the children that their “first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God” (1 Timothy 5:4). We honor our Heavenly Father when we honor our earthly father and mother. These selections from Our Daily Bread, a daily devotion that helps people understand the Bible. If you enjoy these articles and would like to receive the Our Daily Bread devotional, just complete the request form on this brochure and send it to us. There is no subscription fee.
© 2011 by RBC Ministries. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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teacher gave her class of second-graders a lesson about the magnet and what does. The next day, in a AGNETS ND itwritten test, she included this question: “My name has six OTHERS letters. The first one is m. I pick up things. What am I?” READ: When the test papers were Proverbs 31:26-31 turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost Honor your father and 50 percent of the students mother, as the LORD your God commanded answered the question with you. the word mother. —Deuteronomy 5:16 Yes, mothers do pick up things. But they are much more than “magnets,” gathering up clothes and picking up toys around the house. As willing as many mothers are to do such chores, they have a higher calling than that. A good mother loves her family and provides an atmosphere where each member can find acceptance, security, and understanding. She is there when the children need a listening ear, a comforting word, a warm hug, or a loving touch on a fevered brow. And for the Christian mother, her greatest joy is in teaching her children to trust and to love Jesus as their Savior. That kind of mother deserves to be honored—not just on one special day a year but every day. And that recognition should involve more than words; it ought to be shown in respect, thoughtfulness, and loving deeds. —Richard De Haan Day 1
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Of all the earthly things God gives, There’s one above all others: It is the precious, priceless gift Of loving Christian mothers. —Anon. Godly mothers not only bring you up, they bring you to God.
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Christian who helps to place Day 2 orphans in homes tells about a little Russian boy named Ivan. He’s a lovable child with a shock OTHER S of brown hair falling over his face. When he learned that he might be OUCH able to leave the orphanage, he said, “Please, will you find me a mother?” READ: Fathers are important too, but Romans 16:1-16 there are times when nothing but a mother’s touch will do. Even Greet Rufus, whom grown men need it. the Lord picked out The apostle Paul, probably in to be his very own; his fifties, sent special greetings and also his dear mother, who has to a fellow believer in Rome been a mother to me. named Rufus. Interestingly, he —Romans 16:13 added greetings to “his dear mother, who has been a mother to me” (Romans 16:13). Why would he refer to her in this way? During his years of ministry, Paul faced many hardships (2 Corinthians 6:4-10). Could it be that Rufus had brought a weary and tired apostle to his house, where Paul received from the mother of Rufus comforting words, a fresh garment, and a nourishing meal? Did Paul receive from her the empathy and tenderness that only a mother can give? We don’t know this for sure, but it could explain his unusual greeting in today’s text. I believe that God has given mothers a unique capacity for showing gentleness and compassion, and for influencing the spiritual direction of children. Let’s be thankful for our mothers and for those who have been like a mother to us. —Herbert Vander Lugt
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God has conferred on motherhood A true nobility, And she who gladly fills that role Can shape man’s destiny. —D. De Haan A thousand men may build a city, but it takes a mother to make a home.
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father and son were walking along the beach. The boy was lagging behind and suddenly shouted, “Look, Daddy, N OUR I’m walking in your footsteps!” This prompted the man to OOTSTEPS think about his responsibility to provide spiritual leadership READ: for his son. 2 Kings 13:1-13 Second Kings 13 records a sad period in the history of Be an example to all believers in what God’s people. The kings of Israel were not obeying the Lord you say, in the way you live, in your but were following in the footlove, your faith, steps of their evil fathers. The and your purity. sinful practices of one genera—1 Timothy 4:12 tion were repeated by the next, and the blessing of the Lord was withheld from the nation. Whether they are aware of it or not, fathers set an example for their children. An unknown author wrote: A careful man I ought to be; A little fellow follows me. I do not dare to go astray For fear he’ll go the selfsame way. Not once can I escape his eyes; Whate’er he sees me do he tries. Like me he says he’s going to be— That little chap who follows me. I must remember as I go Through summer sun and winter snow, I’m molding for the years to be— That little chap who follows me. Fathers, be careful where and how you walk! Someone’s following in your footsteps! —Richard De Haan Day 3
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A child may not inherit his father’s talents, but he will absorb his values!
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ou don’t have to meet a Day 4 man face to face to know what kind of a father he is. Just listen to the way his children HAT S Y refer to him. The respect that children AD have for their parents can be a good indicator of how much READ: respect they deserve. One of Proverbs 23:15-24 the Ten Commandments is to honor our father and mother The godly walk with (Exodus 20:12). But how many integrity; blessed parents live in a way that is are their children who follow them. worthy of honor? —Proverbs 20:7 I cannot think of a greater tragedy in life than to lose the respect of my children. I would be the most humiliated man if my children were ashamed of me. But nothing would make my heart beat faster than if my child pointed me out in a crowd and said proudly, “That’s my dad!” A good test of whether you are a father who is respected by his children is to ask yourself, “Do I want my son to be what I am, to do what I do, to go where I go?” Fathers, remember that never before in all history have your children needed the undivided interest and attention of loving parents as in these days of a polluted moral and spiritual atmosphere. With the help of God’s strength and wisdom, determine to be the kind of parent whose child is proud to say, “That’s my dad!” —M.R. De Haan
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A father who emulates God Is one who is faithful and true; And if he is honest and strong, His children will follow him too. —Hess A life lived for Christ is the best inheritance we can leave our children.
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n the book Another Country, Day 5 author Mary Pipher met with people in their seventies, eighties, and nineties who were confrontHE OUNTRY ing many different life situations. wanted . . . to understand F LD GE the“Icountry of old age,” Pipher writes. “We are not organized READ: in a way that makes aging Mark 7:1-13 easy.” The root problem, she observed, is that young and old [The children’s] first have become segregated, to the responsibility is to detriment of both groups. show godliness at home and repay their This social trend is not necparents by taking essarily intentional. But many care of them. This people do ignore and shirk their is something that responsibilities for the elderly. pleases God. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees —1 Timothy 5:4 found creative ways to avoid their family duties. In Mark 7:9-13, Jesus rebuked their common practice of dedicating their material possessions to God (declaring them as Corban) rather than using their assets to provide for their parents. Their tradition had violated the commandment to honor their father and their mother. Our children, work, and church activities can pull us in many directions. But that doesn’t excuse us from honoring our aging parents by making provision for their needs, as much as we are able (1 Timothy 5:8). When the time comes for us to enter the country of old age, let’s hope we’ve set the right example for our own children to follow. —Dennis Fisher
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Providing for our parents’ needs With loving words and selfless deeds Is what the Lord expects of those Who try to follow where He leads. —Sper Honor your father and mother— The Fifth Commandment
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t was a sad, unsigned letter Day 6 from an elderly mother. “I have an only son,” she wrote, “who does all sorts of things OMMAND for other people but hates to do anything for me. He rarely visits MENT me although I live only 8 minutes ONOR OUR away. He seldom even phones.” God puts a high priority on ARENTS family relationships throughout life—so says the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12). On the READ: surface it seems directed excluEphesians 6:1-4 sively to children, but parents must set the example. Children Some people curse their father learn to honor, respect, and obey and do not thank their parents when they see Mom their mother. and Dad honoring one another, —Proverbs 30:11 when they feel respected, affirmed, and loved by their parents, and when they observe their obedience to God. This commandment to children actually touches us all. How many of us have been as thoughtful of our parents as we could have been? And who of us as parents have been to our children all that we should have been? Although we’ve broken this commandment, our guilt has been removed by Jesus’ death on the cross. He gives the courage to ask forgiveness of our children and our parents. And if they are not living, we can show the sincerity of our repentance by strengthening our other family relationships. We honor our Father when we honor our parents. —Dennis De Haan
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Children who honor their parents Are doing what’s good in God’s sight; Parents who love and admonish Are teaching to do what is right. —Sper Honoring our parents is learned by example.