July 24: The 1st commandment with a promise

Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.    (Ephesians 6:1-4 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

True to form, the Word of God strikes a perfect balance in this passage: Children are asked to obey their parents, and parents are asked to treat their children in a way that will make them want to obey. When the Bible asks children to obey, it applies to parents that do not believe in or follow God, but does not apply to parents who ask their children to do what is immoral or to disregard their faith in God — in that rare case they would have to obey their heavenly Father and disobey their earthly parents. On the other hand, parents are told not to be unreasonably harsh or uncaring to their children.

Parents need to remember that their faith in God, and all that that entails, will be the single most powerful influence in their children's lives. The more parents demonstrate genuine faith in God — faith that is acted out — the more likely that faith will be reflected in their children. Most parents treat their children’s education as a major part of their development, and spend effort and time to ensure they get the very best. It determines many aspects of their career and a future. But what about their education in faith and God?

These days lots of people talk about and fight against child abuse, but there is a form of child abuse that most people do not even recognize as abuse. When parents fail to teach their children about God, when they lack commitment to Jesus, when they give them no spiritual nourishment — this is the worst type of neglect and abuse. They are scarring their children for life.

“Honor your father and your mother” is the only command of the Ten Commandments followed by a promise: that it may go well with them and that they may have a long life. It’s important for both children and parents to realize that respect and obedience are well worth the effort and discipline they require. But if respecting our earthly parents causes God’s promises to kick in, imagine what respect for God will do for us.

When parents go to the trouble of teaching their children to respect them, they are also teaching them to respect other authority figures they will come across in their lifetime, and to respect the ultimate authority, God.