Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

Obedience to Authority
Ephesians 6:1-9    
                 
Roshen George Verghese
  
St John’s MTC, Hounslow, UK
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise.
 
 Obeying and honouring parents is what helps a family functions.
Obeying your father and mother is very important, as through their guidance they can craft us to be  better human beings using the teachings of God. This makes parents valuable, however, many children take them for granted and later regret ignoring the advice and teachings of their parents. Children should obey their parents not only because they are their parents, but obeying  their parents is what holds the family together. It maintains the unity within the family, due to the children listening to what the parents are saying and they are following, there is connection between the child and parent as both start to respect each other, with the parent having the final authority. A government can only work properly if the people are willing to listen and follow and the same rule applies within a family. Obedience doesn't stop there, as Paul says you are parents in the Lord. This means that when children are obeying their parents they are obeying God. Family is of God, therefore obeying your parents results in upholding God and his teachings. To adhere to the authority of  your parents is the first step in submitting yourself to God.
The second of the passage (verse 2) states to honour your father and mother. What is the importance of honour. When you honour your parents, you are respecting their authority. Without respect, you're just obeying what your parents are saying. This is a problem because the children will not take what the parents are saying to heart instead they will be blindly following instructions. Honour helps the children recognize and not undermine the positions of their parents. Honouring parents praises God as you are valuing what He teaches. 

PRAYER

Our Father in Heaven, assist us to always obey and respect our parents, and not to take them for granted as they guide us to be better persons and help us to learn Your Word. Help us to remember and uphold the family values that our Godly parents teach us. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
  
Reflect on what you do around and with your parents. Ask yourselves the question,  "Are you obeying and honouring your parents”? 

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