Honor your Parents

Honor your Parents With Mothers Day upon us (and Fathers day quickly approaching), my mind has been focused upon exactly what it is that the Word of God calls me to do as a child in regards to my parents. The immediate answer for me was found in Exodus 20:12 and countless other scriptures; “honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” This word honor means to abound, give glory, to be glorious, to make glorious, to bring honor and to honor, to be abundantly grateful! This scripture and it’s reality has caused me to seek out what I would or could do to honor my Mother and Father. By way of explanation and assistance let me digress for one moment in regards to deceased parents, as my own biological father has long since moved to heaven. Even though your parent(s) may be deceased your obligation to honor them has not ceased, we are to honor our parents for life. Now back to honoring our parents: how do we do this, how do we honor the ones who gave us life? For some this task can seem rather easy and mundane after all if you view your parents with a Godly attitude it is easy to honor them, it’s comes natural. When viewing through the eyes of the Holy Spirit and through the covering of the Blood of the Lamb you see them as Christ sees them. However for most people I have met in life the opposite remains to be far more truthful. I hear far more people complaining about the mistakes their parent(s) have made, statements like you have no idea what they have done, or how mean they were, or in todays society how bad my stepparent is. And while I would not intend to discount or give approval to un-godly actions by parents or stepparents, I do not see anywhere in the word where there is an exception to honoring those who gave us life and instruction. There is nowhere I know of that license is given for anyone to judge their parents. The weight and responsibility of being a parent is something that no one who has not experienced it can truly imagine. The trials that are faced as children progress through various ages, hormonal changes, and so much more cannot be appreciated in the least by one who has not experienced each of these stages. The reality is a child will never understand the challenges parents face every day until they themselves face those same challenges. Therefore the parents will always have greater wisdom and understanding in parenting because the last time I checked no child was ever able to have children prior to their own birth. Yes there is much truth to the saying that “the older I get the smarter my parents become”. The reality is the more you experience the more you truly understand the challenges faced by mom and Dad. While your parent(s) may not be perfect they are the perfect parents for you, after all God chose them to bring you life! Therefore today would be a good day to put away your judgments, your accusations, your failed expectations, your emotional hurts and pains and accept this very truth; “honor your father and your mother”, if for no other reason because God commands you to. Honor them in life and in death, both biological and those by other means, today honor you mother! Don’t text her, call her, don’t just send a card, send some love, be a blessing to the ones who gave you your life! It is high time that each of us stops taking credit for whom we are and who we have become and give credit where credit is do. After all none of us would be here and none of us would be who we are unless God had given them to us, and allowed them to not be perfect, but rather to do the very best they could or can with what they had or have. The blessing truly will be yours! Pastor Gene Burroughs Missio Dei Ministries www.missiodeinavarre.org PS: I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors I felt an urgency to deliver this word today without the help of my wonderful editor Patricia Cole.