Give Honor: “to regard or treat (someone) with admiration and respect”
We hear it often. Honor our country. Honor our flag. Honor our fallen soldiers. Honor our first responders.
The fifth commandment in the Bible says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
It would seem respecting parents should be practiced and not just talked about. The relationship and respect (honor) we exhibit to our parents plays a critical role in a person’s spiritual growth.
How do our children learn honor in relationship to parents? I believe it begins with how we, the parents, demonstrate honor to our heavenly father, God. The honor we give to God, having no other God before Him, is the crucial and often missing link in how we teach our children the type of honor they should have toward us, the parents.
Parents are given the responsibility to be role models for their children and teach them basic lessons in social skills, handling conflict and the plethora of what is needed to have a balanced life of showing honor to multitudes of other things such as nature, animals, and the environment.
All we have to do is look around us and see the advance of divorce in our society to see the confusion in our children’s minds as we expect them to honor us as parents while we (the parents) are at war with each other.
Are you a parent who expects your child to keep “secrets” or to take sides one parent against another? Good parenting begins with a solid relationship with God. Teaching honor to our children begins with us honoring God first and foremost in our own lives. We must let God parent us.
God has given us a framework, a pattern, a list of do’s and don’ts. Most of all, He has given us instructions that lead us to bringing all things to Him through prayer and supplication.
When we have trouble with the family dynamics of honor in parent/child relationship, our first resort should be to turn to God, our perfect example of parenting, and see what He has to say. It’s all there. Every answer to every question. Are we doing what we expect and want from our children? Are we showing honor to God our Father, that what He expects from us?
Citing a two-verse scripture tells the story of our commitment to our children and the honor we bestow upon them, ourselves, God, country and others.
Scripture says (Philippians 4:5-7), “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hears and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Debby Efurd is co-founder of Cary John Efurd Ministries. Learn more about the ministry by liking our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/CJEMinistries) and downloading our FREE mobile app (get.theapp.co) from App Store or Google Play. Once downloaded, allow notifications to keep you up to date on what’s happening in Cary John Efurd Ministries. Debby can be contacted at caryjohnefurdministries@gmail.com. Feel free to comment at debbyefurd.com
