"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Ephesians 6:1-3 (KJV)
There's a reason that this is the first commandment with a promise. It's a very important commandment, if we obey it we're promised long life on the earth. It's sometimes hard to honor our parents, when I was younger I didn't to be honest. I wasn't saved, so I didn't see it like I do now. We want to honor the Lord, so we also need to honor our parents. Most of us love our parents, but that's not quite the same thing as honoring them. Obedience is a major part of honoring them.
I have my own theory on why we're promised long life for honoring our parents. This is my own little theory, it doesn't say this anywhere in the Bible... Our parents conceived us, and gave us life. If we don't honor the vessel that brought us to life then we don't really honor the life that the vessel gave us. If we don't honor life then why should we be granted a longer life?
We need to honor and obey our parents, but there will come a time when the son becomes a father and a daughter becomes a mother. There comes the time when the child leaves home and gets married and starts their own family. Some parents never let go of their children, they still want control... But if you have a family then you're going to have to make your own decisions. That doesn't mean you shouldn't consider advice from your parents, but it does mean that they shouldn't be reigning over you. Let me give an example: Let's say that your parents tell you to send your child to a certain school. You could consider their advice, that's fine... But in the end you're going to pick the school that you think is best for YOUR child. You have to consult with your spouse, not your parents. It's fine to listen to their advice, but the keyword is advice it should no longer be "orders."
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins as we forgive all those who've sinned against us. Help us to honor you and our parents. In Jesus name. A-men!
