Being Honorable

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Exodus 20:12 NIV

Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death... Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.

Exodus 21:15,17 NIV

I have to tell you that one of the things that I see in society today that I find most alarming is the incredible lack of respect people generally have for each other. As and educator I see it everyday. Sometimes parents come in to discuss an issue concerning their son or daughter and the interaction between parent and child is as if two adults or two children were talking with each other. The child does not honor their parent and the parent, frankly, is not honorable in front of their child. When a child believes they have an equal position in the relationship then their extremely limited, immature and inexperienced point of view becomes the focal point of any issue. That is a formula for failure.

OK, I'm king of going off here, but, I believe that much of the problems in society today have their root problem in the break down of the family unit. God, as our Creator, set up the family as a foundational part of society. When someone knows how to honor their parents they understand that everyone has a place, important and valuable but not supreme (that is God's place alone). In life we all move from being children who are taken care of by their parents to adults who take care of their parents as they get older. As a child I was to obey my parents in the Lord. As an adult I (when the time comes) take care of my parents. Both actions honor them. 

Showing honor and being honorable are two sides of the same coin. But it starts when we teach our children to honor us. We teach them how to communicate, how to relate, how to express themselves even when they believe they are wronged, and how to trust God even when they can't see the end from the beginning. And that brings us the bottom line: Honoring your parents, honors God. My prayer is that you and I teach our children, by example and instruction, to show honor and be honorable.