E
eneri
Guest
What does it mean to 'Honor Thy Parents'?
I have been contemplating this very question over and over in my head. AND I have come up with this...
I do know...it is a commandment given to us by God and it is a commandment with a promise.
I feel God is so wholeheartedly enthusiastic about us keeping this commandment that He felt it was important this commandment deserved a reward attached to it. And it is a reward that would affect us here on earth NOT in Heaven. WHY!? Because I feel God knows how hard this commandment will be for some of us to keep without some kind of incentive.
SO, the promise attached to this commandment makes it an inviting commandment to keep...at least for some of us.
To better understand this commandment I feel we need to break-down the word HONOR.
To HONOR is to RESPECT
To RESPECT is to give POSITIVE ESTEEM
To give POSITIVE ESTEEM is to give WORTH
To give WORTH is to make someone feel VALUED.
So, in a nutshell we are to VALUE our parents.
Okay, that sounds simple! Or is it!?
What if your parents were(are) abusive...does this commandment still apply?
Well, that's a tough question to ask oneself; especially when you cringe at all the times you remember your parents hurting you more than it felt they loved you.
BUT, lets go back to the commandment itself...it SAYS, 'HONOR thy parents'. God did NOT say HONOR thy parents ONLY if they are perfect. God did NOT differentiate between what kind of parents were to be HONORED and which ones were NOT. ALL He said was to 'HONOR thy PARENTS'.
In essence, we are to value them even if they aren't perfect and have many short comings.
So, is it honoring to your parents if you publicly talk about them in a NEGATIVE way? I say NO! You are NOT honoring them, therefore, you are NOT keeping in-line with God's commandment. AND if you are knowingly breaking God's commandment you are NOT only dishonoring your parents BUT you are dishonoring GOD Himself.
Oh, and please DON'T misinterpret the WORD of GOD, get any misunderstandings, or ADD to the WORD. THE commandment is NOT saying you have to call them up and invite them over for holiday dinners or even Sunday brunches or even become best buddies. BUT what it is saying... is...you are NOT to de-value them.
I have been contemplating this very question over and over in my head. AND I have come up with this...
I do know...it is a commandment given to us by God and it is a commandment with a promise.
I feel God is so wholeheartedly enthusiastic about us keeping this commandment that He felt it was important this commandment deserved a reward attached to it. And it is a reward that would affect us here on earth NOT in Heaven. WHY!? Because I feel God knows how hard this commandment will be for some of us to keep without some kind of incentive.
SO, the promise attached to this commandment makes it an inviting commandment to keep...at least for some of us.
To better understand this commandment I feel we need to break-down the word HONOR.
To HONOR is to RESPECT
To RESPECT is to give POSITIVE ESTEEM
To give POSITIVE ESTEEM is to give WORTH
To give WORTH is to make someone feel VALUED.
So, in a nutshell we are to VALUE our parents.
Okay, that sounds simple! Or is it!?
What if your parents were(are) abusive...does this commandment still apply?
Well, that's a tough question to ask oneself; especially when you cringe at all the times you remember your parents hurting you more than it felt they loved you.
BUT, lets go back to the commandment itself...it SAYS, 'HONOR thy parents'. God did NOT say HONOR thy parents ONLY if they are perfect. God did NOT differentiate between what kind of parents were to be HONORED and which ones were NOT. ALL He said was to 'HONOR thy PARENTS'.
In essence, we are to value them even if they aren't perfect and have many short comings.
So, is it honoring to your parents if you publicly talk about them in a NEGATIVE way? I say NO! You are NOT honoring them, therefore, you are NOT keeping in-line with God's commandment. AND if you are knowingly breaking God's commandment you are NOT only dishonoring your parents BUT you are dishonoring GOD Himself.
Oh, and please DON'T misinterpret the WORD of GOD, get any misunderstandings, or ADD to the WORD. THE commandment is NOT saying you have to call them up and invite them over for holiday dinners or even Sunday brunches or even become best buddies. BUT what it is saying... is...you are NOT to de-value them.