Titus 2 Men And Women

Praying Parent: Lesson 5 - Honor Parents, Dealing with Rebellion
by Teddi Neevel

Honor is given... trust is earned.

Honor is a word we seldom use today, so I really had to think about the meaning of honor. Then I had to decide if it was important. Honor to value, to respect, to esteem highly. Now that is interesting. Honor is not a matter of love or agreement but it is the outward display of respect for a person or thing.

Our children are commanded by God to honor us, not because parents are always right, not because parents are always honest, not because parents are always kind but just because we are their parents. A child that is disrespectful toward their parent is not walking in a right relationship with Christ.  As a child of God we do not have to understand why He leads us where He does, we do have to honor Him because he is worthy of honor. Without God the Father there would be no God the Son, the gift of salvation. God would still be God but there would be no need for the triune personality of God.  Without physical parents there would be no child. We are to honor our parents because without them we would not exist.

Exodus 20:12 "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

Mark 7:10 "For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and,

Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:"

Mark 10:19 "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother."

Ephesians 6:2 "Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)"

John 5:23 "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him."

Honoring parents is simply acknowledging their God given authority in a child’s life. Please, remember that a child is always a child. Show your parent’s and in-law’s the respect in word and action that they deserve because you are their child. Your children and watching you. If you neglect or disrespect your children’s grandparents they will in turn treat you the same way when you are the grandparent.

How important is the idea of honoring parents? Let’s look again at Exodus 20:12 "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

God promises long life to a child who honors their parents. We need to set the example by honoring our parents before our children. We need to teach our children that some positions deserve respect even when we may not agree with the person that holds the position.

Part of honor is in the tone and words that are used. Calling a spouse or parent "my old man" or "my old lady" does not show respect and is un-acceptable. If you use such terms even in jest, your children will follow your example, but they won’t be joking. I realize that I’m getting old and that I live in the south but humor me for a minute. Would you rather a child look at their shoes or off into the distance when you speak to them, or would you prefer they look you in the eye and reply in real words? "Yes" instead of "yep"..."no" instead or "nah". Image what would happen in our society if parents, teachers, police officers, etc. were looked in the eye and spoken to with respect. It is your responsibility as a parent to teach your children to honor and respect the authority figures in their life.

First let’s look at the word disobedience. This is a little difficult because we use the word disobey to mean failure to mind or do what one is told but God uses disobedience to mean unsaved.

Ephesians 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"

Ephesians 5:6 "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."

Colossians 3:6 "For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:"

Now let’s look at the word rebellion. God uses the word rebellion to mean deliberate refusal to do what we know is expected or commanded. God despises rebellion. A child who will not accept the God given authority of a parent will accept no authority. Any parent who allows a child to be rebellious does the child great harm. We must demand accountability and obedience. Part of training a child is making them accountable for their actions.

I have a grand daughter who is ‘Miss Personality’. You know the type of child I mean. She has the tendency to get busy socializing and not study her spelling. Her father sat down with her and asked her what his job is as a father? They discussed it for a while and finally concluded that his job is to love his family, do the best work at his job that he is capable of doing and pay the bills.

They then discussed her job as a child and concluded that her job is to obey her parents, to go to school and to always get the best grades that she can.

They ended their conversation by agreeing that if Dad didn’t do his best he wouldn’t get paid, so if the child didn’t do her best it would cost her. Each missed spelling word would cost her 5 things (She didn’t get to decide which 5.) from her room. She is now getting 100% on her spelling tests.

1Samuel 15:23 "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.’

Jeremiah 28:16 "Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD."

God will reject us as servants if we are rebellious. When we understand that God considers rebellion to be as wicked as practicing the occult we should fear for our children when we see rebellion rear its ugly head.

Your children will not initially be happy when you make them obey, but they will learn to respect the fences you build in their lives. Don’t make rules just to assert your authority.

Don’t be afraid to snoop on your children. They won’t like it but when the Holy Spirit nudges you that something is not right you had better check. Then you must confront the child with what you find. They will immediately yell, "That is my personal stuff. You don’t trust me." Guess what, parents? You had better not blindly trust them. Remember they still have a sin nature just like you.

Teaching children to have personal integrity is a huge responsibility. Integritiy is doing right even when you are all alone. Let me share with you the words of a song that is on one of the ‘Patch the Pirate’ tapes.

"From the very start, have purpose in your heart,
To do what's right and never question why.
Never count the cost, though everything seems lost.
The price for doing right is often high.
Right is always right and wrong is always wrong,
And we must learn to separate the two.
If you love the right, the Lord will give you light;
So seek the right in all you say and do.
Do right 'til the stats fall, do right 'til the last call,
Do right though there's no one else to stand by you.
Do right when you're all alone, Do right though it's never known,
Do right because you love the Lord - Do right, Do right!"

As you pray for your child remember the areas of honor and rebellion. Ask God for wisdom. Set the example.

Let me add a freebie for today...What is eternal life? We all use the term. We can quote John 3:16 and Romans 6:23.  Have you ever heard someone say "If you are saved, when you die, you will go to heaven and live forever with Jesus"?  Do you want to know a Bible truth? John 17:3 "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

If you have asked Jesus to save you, you already have eternal life. Are you walking daily with the Lord in eternal life or are you waiting until you get to heaven?

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