Honoring our Parents
February 6 Bible Reading: Leviticus Chapters 19-21
Honoring our Parents
We need to realize that God was leading the Israelites from one pagan culture (Egypt) to another pagan culture (Canaan). While among these pagan cultures, God wanted His people to keep various moral and ceremonial laws (Leviticus 19), and God instituted penalties for breaking these laws (Leviticus 20). Among these laws, we see that honoring parents ranked very high in the list, and keeping this law shows their adherence to holiness that God required from the children of Israel. 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father…I am the Lord your God” (Lev 19:2-3). The penalty for breaking this law was mentioned in Lev. 20:7-9: ‘Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you. For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him’.
God instituted this law as part of the Ten Commandments and this was the first commandment with a promise: ‘Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you’ (Ex 20:12). So, how do you honor your parents?
- Listen to your parents what they tell you (Proverbs 1:8-9; 13:1; 23:22)
- Obey your parents for this is well pleasing to God (Proverbs 6:20-21; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20)
- Honor your parents (Lev. 19:3; Deut. 5:16; Eph. 6:2)
- Do not despise your parents when they are old (Proverbs 23:22b)
Let us remember today and always to honor our parents - for this is well pleasing to God!
