Honor Your Parents.

Honor.

When we honor someone we are giving them great respect and admiration.

We are commanded-

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

And Jesus said if we love Him we will keep His commandments. We are looking at the royal law, the ten commandments that He gave, that He expounded upon, that He lived- fully keeping them all without breaking a single law because we know this--

1Jn_3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Sin is a transgression of the law.

When you commit NO sin you transgress no law.

There has to be a law for you to be able to transgress it for there to be sin.

Jesus committed no sin.

Jesus did not transgress the royal law.

We are told to honor our father and mother.

We are to give great respect and to admire our parents. We owe our very lives to our parents. And while there are many parents who are abusive, dismissive, loveless, and some who even give up their children so others can raise them, a parent deserves at least the respect and admiration for the life of the child, the existence.  It's hard to admire or respect those who are abusive, very hard but not impossible.

We are to honor our parents and this goes hand in hand with loving our enemies if need be -should our parents be our enemies and yes, they can be.

Mat_5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Admire and respect, it's a choice you can make. This choice is easy to make when you have loving parents, but not so easy when you do not having loving parents.

We are commanded to honor our parents because they are our physical life givers. We can do this. Our heavenly Father loves us even though we are very abusive to Him- this is truth.

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

Sinners- transgressors of the law of God, breakers of the ten commandments, and yet, God still loves us.  Should we do any less towards our parents should they fail to treat us with love?

We do know this…

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

We have a heavenly Father.

Our heavenly Father is decidedly deserving of our admiration and respect.

So even if our physical father and mother falls far short of what one would consider worthy of honor or respect, we honor them because our God would have us honor them. Out of our love for our heavenly Father, we love even those who may seem to be the most unlovable. All through His power, through His grace, through His mercy, through the Holy Spirit, we love, we honor those He would have us honor.