Daily Devotional
How Does Respecting Parents Affect Our World?
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”
Exodus 20:12
May 9, 2025
Ponder This
The Ten Commandments address a vertical and a horizontal relationship. They start with our relationship with God; that’s the vertical relationship.
Then the last six commands talk about our horizontal relationships—our relationships with others. Only ten commandments and one is given to the important subject of honoring father and mother. It is also the first commandment with a promise. God says there's a reason you honor your parents: that your days may be long in the land God gives you.
Society cannot long endure when children fail to honor their parents. Our parents are the first people we meet. And if we're not right with our parents, if we cannot love and respect our parents, how can we expect to love and respect others? The home is the foundation, the basis of expressing the love we have for God first and foremost. The very next step is to love and honor our parents.
- What is challenging about following this command to honor one’s parents?
- How can we do this, even if we have broken relationships with our parents or even if they are no longer living?
Practice This
Pray that God would equip Christian parents and strengthen them as they raise up the next generation. Pray also for children to honor their parents and the ways of the Lord.
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