Scripture

Today, I would like to encourage you to take some time to read through different scripture verses on children obeying/being submissive to their parents. If you're a little shocked at what you read, take some time after to pray and ask God to open up your eyes to see where you’ve been sinning against God and your parents.

Proverbs 20:20- “If anyone curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.”

Proverbs 30:17- “The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.”

Continue looking at God’s plan for the family by reading Ephesians 6:1-4 and Colossians 3:18-21. List the instructions given to each family member. Did you find yourself here? And are you demonstrating a heart devoted to God by obeying God’s instructions to you, or do you need to make some changes? What changes?

Please take some time to look up following scripture verses. What do they teach you about Jesus’ submission to His Father’s will?

Matthew 26:39
Matthew 26:42
John 4:34
John 6:38
John 15:10
Hebrews 10:7

Again, what do you learn from Jesus’ example?

Submitting to Our Parents

Our home and our relationships there are the training ground for submission to all others, including our future submission to our future husbands (Ephesians 5:22).

Elizabeth George says, “Submission is a challenge straight from God to you. It’s a measure of your spiritual maturity. Why? Because no one can make you submit to anyone else. You must choose to do it yourself. Your parents can’t make you, your friends can’t make you, and your youth leader can’t make you. No, you have to decide yourself to submit to your parents. And here’s the shocker—If you aren’t submitting to your parents now, you aren’t submitting to God, and you’ll probably have trouble fulfilling God’s desire for you to submit to your future husband’s leadership. That’s pretty far reaching, isn’t it?”

Next week we’ll dive a little bit deeper into submission. Have a wonderful weekend!

Honoring Your Parents Part 3

Today let’s look at a few more of the little things we can do to train ourselves in the heart and art of submission.

-Your cooperation: Have you ever been in a play, danced in a dance recital, or played on a sports team? As you well know, everyone had to cooperate to make the show the best performance it could be. You all had to be a team, right?

Well, it’s the same way in a family. There are a couple things that God has asked of family’s—to live together in unity (Psalm 133:1) and to glorify God in all things (1 Corinthians 10:31). So here’s how it goes—everything your parents ask you to do, you do with no hesitation. There should never be any room for arguing, and you know what? God rewards a cheerful and obedient heart!

-Your help: Everyone on the face of this earth loves to hear the four little words—“how can I help?” So I encourage you at home and with your parents and family members to constantly be asking, “How can I help?” Because after all “two are always better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

-Pray, pray, pray: I cannot emphasize too much on the importance of prayer. It is something that we should be doing all day long—every spare moment we can. If you see your parents struggling with something, pray for them. If they haven’t been getting along with each other, pray for them. If they are stressed, pray for them. We can never pray too much for our parents!

We need to be praying for ourselves too. If you think you don’t like your parents, pray for yourself. If you think what they are asking of you is unfair, pray for yourself. If you think your parents are too strict, pray for yourself.

What should we be asking God? You should pray that He will soften your heart and help you change your attitude, give you help by His grace, ask Him to give you a greater appreciation for your parents, to help you to submit, honor and respect them. Ask God to work not only in your parent’s hearts, but in yours as well.

Honoring Your Parents Part 2

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” (Colossians 3:20)

Most of the time a heart that submits boils down to paying attention to the little things. What are some of these little things?

-Your Attitude: Your attitude has to do with your moods. And your moods can be right and godly, or they can be sinful. Stop for a minute and think about your attitude. Is it generally cheerful, energetic, helpful, positive, giving, and respectful? Or do you tend to mope around, grunt and grumble, resent your parents, your family, and your responsibilities? Do you seem to be stomping through your days with an irritable attitude?

We need a huge attitude adjustment each and every day. It is crucial to spend time in the Word every morning to prepare our hearts for our day ahead. If we fail to have this all important time with God, we are doomed for the day. And so is everyone else! They better beware, give us a wide path, and stay out of our way! Right?

-Your Room: Have you ever thought about the fact that your room is part of your parents home? Yes, you’re responsible for it, but it’s not yours—it’s theirs (and ultimately God’s). We can honor our parents as we honor their property? Whatever your parents are asking of you in terms of neatness, cleanliness, noise, rules, etc. go the extra mile and do it better, with a cheerful spirit. Just like Jesus said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” (Matthew 5:41)

A Heart Check:

1. How would you describe your general attitude around the house? (How do you think your parents would describe it? Your brothers and sisters?)
2. After answering question #1, what specific changes are you going to make?
3. Is there something, anything you can do right this minute to take care of your room? Anything you’ve been neglecting, putting off, or just plain ol’ rebelling against doing? Honor your parents by doing it now!

Honoring Your Parents Part 1

Most of you are aware of God’s commandments. They were spoken by God to Moses, who delivered them to God’s people. They weren’t God’s Ten Suggestions. No, they were God’s Ten Commandments, and one of those commandments states this:

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving to you.” (Exodus 20:12)

If we desire to honor God and become ones after His own heart, then we must be one’s that follow His commandments and do everything He calls us to do. So dear hearts, you and I are going to honor our fathers and mothers as long as they are alive. It’s one of God’s forever commandments!

Maybe you’re wondering, “What then does it mean to honor my parents?”

Elizabeth George explains it this way, “What does it mean to ‘honor’ parents? Partly, ‘honoring’ means speaking well of them and politely to them. It also means acting in a way that shows them courtesy and respect (but we are not to follow them in acts of disobedience to God). Parents have a special place in God’s sight. Even those who find it difficult to get along with their parents are still commanded to honor them.”

Therefore, to honor your parents as the first commandment states, you also need to obey your parents. It may not always be easy, but such obedience calls for us to have humble hearts...”You, who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)

Not only are children commanded to obey their parents, but there are also commands in the Bible for parents as it pertains to their relationship with their children, for example:

-Parents are commanded by God to teach their children (Deuteronomy 6:7)
-Parents are commanded by God to train their children (Ephesians 6:4)
-Parents are commanded by God to discipline and correct their children (Hebrews 12:7)

When parents discipline it proves their love. When I was younger there were many occasions (in my own sin) I didn’t feel much love, but the Bible says, when a child is left to himself, that child is not loved and will ultimately become heartache to his or her parents.

Check back tomorrow for more on honoring our parents.