#5 - How to Respect Your Parents

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NOTE: I am using a modified outline of a sermon I found on sermoncentral.com. I regret that I do not know the name of the sermon or contributor.

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12

The first 4 commandments deal with our relationship with God. This is appropriate, because we are to love God first. . . Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart. . .” was the first commandment, and most important. These are the VERTICAL commands.

But the second most important commandment is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So it’s appropriate that the final 6 commandments deal with our relationships with others. These are the HORIZONTAL commands.

It’s no shock that this command would make it’s way into God’s 10 principles for preventing pain. . . this one prevents a lot of pain! Children who learn to honor their parents are WAY better off.

When my daughter lost her last baby tooth, I was weary of the Tooth Fairy and decided it was time to dispel this childhood myth. "Kelli," I said, "You know how the Easter Bunny is really Mommy, and Santa Claus is, too?" "Yes," she replied, a bit warily. "Well, there’s one more person who is really me. Can you guess who that is?" Slowly, Kelli’s eyes grew big as saucers and her mouth dropped open. In a small, awe-filled voice, she said, "God?" -- Ellen Yinger, Columbus, OH. Today’s Christian Woman, "Heart to Heart."

God is invisible, and for my children (and yours) God has chosen to put us in the visible place of authority over our kids. Technically, we are God to our children right now. . . if you want to prepare your kids to obey GOD, who they can’t see, they’ve got to start by really learning well to obey YOU who they CAN see!

But our world today doesn’t value this commandment. When you watch TV shows, what are most parents like?
* Morons!!!
* Too stupid to be cool.
I mean, let’s face it: Homer and Marge do not make you want to respect them. Jimmy Neutron’s parents aren’t exactly the way to go. The dad and mom on “The Fairly Odd Parents” always come off looking like idiots.
And that is what Hollywood PROGRAMS into your kids from the time they are knee high!

Even when you do respect parents, it’s more of a “what I can get out of it” type attitude. Like the bumper sticker I saw: “Honour your parents: they haven’t written their will yet”.

But God’s command stands in sharp contrast to that attitude. It’s very simple: Honor your father and mother.

Why you should:
1. Honoring parents is a pathway to God’s blessing.
"Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you."
Deuteronomy 5:16

2. Honoring parents teaches your kids how to treat you.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)