To esteem, respect, admire, appreciate, value, reverence, revere, venerate, hallow
It means to HOLD SACRED
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 5:16 “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”
Honor is something a child owes the OFFICE of Father and Mother…irrespective of who occupies this office.
The scripture “give… honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:7) shows that we owe it to our parents to honor them.
When you owe someone, it does not matter whether you like the person or not. It doesn’t matter if you can stand the person’s attitude or not…you still pay what you owe.
If children knew the blessings inherent in honoring parents, they would do all within their power to honor their parents
If children knew the danger in dishonoring a Sacred Position like that of a parent, they would never attempt to dishonor them.
This may be a little harsh but I’m just sharing it to show how dire it was to dishonor one’s parents in the Old Testament. Leviticus 20:9 says “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head”
Deuteronomy 27:16 says “Cursed is anyone who
dishonors their father or mother…"
Ever wondered why God
did not add any condition to the scripture “Fathers,
do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring
them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord”?
I believe it is so that
the responsibility of honor is not taken off the child.
Even if a father
provokes a child to wrath…it does not justify dishonor.
It does not invalidate
Deuteronomy 5:16.
It is not a loophole.
It does not make it
permissible.
Remember the story of
the Uzzah in 1 Chronicles 13, who out of zeal for God’s things touched the Ark
of Covenant? The Ark was a sacred
thing which only Levites could touch…Uzzah’s intentions did not excuse the
violation.
Whatever a parent does,
a child should still keep his/her own part of this divine arrangement.
I am not justifying Parental
abuse…I am simply saying nothing justifies dishonoring our parents.
In Genesis 9, after the
flood, Noah got drunk and misbehaved…whose fault? His fault. However, one of
his sons, Ham saw him and mocked him…he even called his brothers to come
partake in the mockery…they were wiser than Ham and chose to ‘honor’ their father.
They even covered him up…they respected him to the point that they had to walk
in backwards to cover him up because they could not bear to see their father in
that state. They obviously did not want to keep a mental picture of the
situation.
When Noah came to his
senses (verse 24), he knew what had happened and there was a repercussion…a stiff
one
Honoring your father
and mother is being respectful in word and action and having an inward attitude
of esteem for their position.
As an American, you may disagree with the President’s decisions, but you are obligated to still respect his position as leader of the country. Similarly, children of ALL ages should honor their parents, regardless of whether or not their parents ‘deserve’ honor.
As an American, you may disagree with the President’s decisions, but you are obligated to still respect his position as leader of the country. Similarly, children of ALL ages should honor their parents, regardless of whether or not their parents ‘deserve’ honor.
We are to honor them in actions and attitudes…although we may no longer be
directly under their authority, we cannot outgrow the commandment.
An important skill
every grown child needs in dealing with parents is assertiveness. Assertiveness means
standing up for your personal rights - expressing thoughts, feelings and
beliefs in direct, honest and appropriate
ways. It means to get your point across without upsetting others, or becoming
upset yourself.
Parents are also accountable to God…do your part as a child and follow God’s
instructions.
“Honor begets honor. God will not
honor those who will not obey His command to honor their parents. If we desire
to please God and be blessed, we should honor our parents. Honoring is not
easy, is not always fun, and certainly is not possible in our own strength. But
honor is a certain path to our purpose in life—glorifying God” – Wayne Mack
Let me end with this
scripture in Colossians 3:20 “Children, always
obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord”
We live in a time where
there is so much disobedience to and dishonor for parents…don’t be part of the
statistics. If your parents have
provoked you and you are dishonoring them…I beseech you today, forgive them. Do
it because you want to obey God. Do it because you do not want somebody else’s
error cause you to go against God’s principle.
I found this link that may be helpful if you still feel like "How can I honor my parents when I feel they don't deserve it"
Grace abounds
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