"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, NIV).
This morning I was teaching my class on biblical parenting at the Contact Church of Christ. I was emphasizing the need to be good examples for our children, when I introduced a topic that brought out some opposition from my class. I asked, "Do your children see you treat your parents with honor? How do you speak to and speak about your parents?"
The reaction was something like this:
"But my parents are irritating."
"You don't know my mother. She picks on everything I do. I have never been able to please her."
"I can't stand how they treat me."
I realized that I needed to work on this topic with my class. God wants us to honor our parents. We need to obey God and trust that our efforts will be blessed in some way.
Next week, in addition to my scheduled lesson, I plan to print and distribute the following articles to my class:
"How Can You Honor Parents When You Feel They Don't Deserve It?" (http://www.familylife.com/articles/article_detail.asp?id=1244&page=3&keywords=tribute)
"How to Write a Tribute to Your Parents" (http://www.familylife.com/articles/tribute.pdf)
I understand that telling my class, "Just do it," will not work. They were not convinced that they needed to do it, and they did not know how to do it even if they wanted to do it. I'm hoping to be able to help them overcome this obstacle to living God-honoring lives in their families.
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6 comments:
Terry,
Great thoughts! We must lead by example. As James said, "I'll show you my faith by what I do."
My name is Kaitlyn and I am a journalism student at Patrick Henry College. I’m writing a story about Southland Christian Church’s recent efforts to send letters of love and encouragement to Britney Spears. I saw the comment you left on the blog post about Britney Spears, and I would love to talk with you and get your opinion on this subject. If I could speak with you by phone or email (kailyn.m.czajkowski@gmail.com), that would be great. Thanks for your time!
Mitchell,
Thanks for your comment. (And happy birthday!)
Kaitlyn,
I would be glad to help if I can. I will be e-mailing you soon.
I will not respect or honor my father he does not deserve it,
I didn't respect my mother as I should of and she died. x
Alyssa,
Thanks for reading my blog and for leaving a comment. I do not know your situation, but I can see that my post brought up painful memories. Even though your mother is gone, you can still honor her by the way you talk about her. You may even consider writing a tribute about her, framing it, and hanging it in your home in her honor. As for your father, could you pray for him...perhaps praying that he would have a change of heart and seek your forgiveness? It may seem simplistic, but it would honor him without absolving him of his guilt for the way he has harmed you. Please consider these ideas. I think they may help in some small way.
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