"Honor Your Parents"--Authority

Honor Your Parents Meditation Commentary

“For God commanded saying, Honor thy father and mother; and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” —Matthew 15:4

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” —Ephesians 6:1-3

            The word for “honor” reveals a lot about what God’s intentions were in giving this command.  The Strong’s definition says, “to prize, that is, fix a valuation upon; by implication to revere: - honour, value.”   As the definition indicates, this is more than a casual respect or regard or simple obedience.  Christians are supposed to prize and value parents which means that we are not to just begrudgingly do what they say because we have to, but must recognize their value.  Parents are incredible gifts, especially in the context of the way God intends for families to work.  He has provided two people to help and instruct us through life, and to provide examples for how to do basic things, and also to provide and protect and teach social constructs to.  Of course, the immediate question is to ask about those parents who do not live in the context of God’s plan…those who are not perfect or who are absent.  My dad passed away when I was seven years old, and I have grown up in a single-parent home, with just my mom raising us.  Though this may be seen as a drawback, I value and prize and honor my mom even more than I likely would if both of my parents were alive, because I recognize that she has put in so much work and effort into raising us, having to do the job of both parents.  I also still value my dad, even though he is not with us, because he did so much for me when he was alive.  The command, however, also applies to those whose parents do not live according to God’s guideline.  We are to look for and uphold the value in our parents, regardless of how they act.  Parents are the authorities God has placed in our lives, and part of honoring them has to do with esteeming them even if we do to agree with them.