The Ten Commandments: We Are FOR-EVER Children

by | Jul 11, 2018 | Blog Page, The 10 Commandments | 0 comments

TEACHER:  Ken Hicks

SCRIPTURES: Exodus 20:12

BOTTOM LINE: We are FOR-EVER Children, and therefore FOR-EVER to Honor our Parents!

QUESTION:  How do we Honor Parents that have not been Honorable?

 

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Exodus 20:12… “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

3 challenges:

  1. Many of us have negative memories associated w/ this Commandment.
  2. It seems to be mostly meant for Children.
  3. It seems to describe a family situation that many of never experienced.

How do we obey this Commandment …

  • … if we’re from a broken home?
  • … if our parents abused us?
  • … if we’re adopted?
  • … if we didn’t get along w/ our parents at all?
  • … if we don’t know who are parents are?
  • … if our parents are no longer living?

 

2 Observations… ‘

  1. Since the Commandmentcomes from God, there must be a way to obey this Commandment … no matter how difficult or painful it might be.
  2. Since God has our Best Interests at heart … Obedience must be in our own best interest.

 

ONE … The Basic Command

The words in this Commandmentare pretty simple … Honor your father and your mother … nothing too tricky there.  The key word here though is HONOR.

Commandments 1-4 deal w/ our Relationship w/ God.  Commandments 5-10 deal w/ our Relationships w/ Other People.  This Commandment to HONOR our Parents makes it easy to obey all the rest.  Learn to HONOR our Parents, and to truly treat them w/ the Respect God is calling for here, and we’re not gonna struggle w/ things like Murder, Adultery, Theft, etc…

And if we choose not to HONOR our Folks, we aren’t likely to HONOR the Commandmentsof God.

 

TWO …  The 4 Divine Reasons: So … we’ve seen the serious warnings here about neglecting this Commandment… BUT what about the Positive side?   What does Scripturehave to say about the up-side … the benefit for children HONORING their parents?  Scripturehas 4 things …

  1. It’s the RIGHT Thing to Do.
  2. It Please God!
  3. It Leads to Long Life.
  4. It Ensures Good Success.

 

 

APPLICATION:

What Do We Do TODAY to HONOR our Parents?

From the PARENT Lens:

  1. Praise our Children.
  2. Listen to Our Children.
  3. Set Limits … and Say NO!
  4. Spend TIME w/ Them.
  5.  Model the Right Kind of Life

 

From the GROWN UP CHILD Lens:

  1. Speaking Well of Them.
  2. Obeying Them.
  3. Forgiving Them.
  4. Not Forsaking Them.

 

Think about this Commandmentin reverse.  Maybe we’re struggling?  Maybe to be honest, we can’t imagine HONORING our Parents due to our experience … and so many of the hurts along the way?

Maybe we can pick out 1 of these things … and try 1?  Maybe we can try to HONOR them thru:

  • Speaking no ill-will
  • Obedience next time there’s an opportunity
  • Forgiveness
  • Not forsaking them in their time of need

… whatever the case … what if we were to try HONORING them … and see what happens?

This Commandment is the launch-pad of Commandments 5-10 … speaking about our relationships w/ Other People … and that foundation starts at HOME!