The Importance of Honoring Mothers and Fathers

With another year full of family events coming upon us, those of us that are lucky enough to have parents to honor will celebrate Mother's and Father's Day. We set aside one day a year for this, but it should be something we do everyday of the year, as commanded by God. There is a good reason for this, or else He wouldn't have commanded it!

Exodus 20:12 "Honor thy father and mother that you may enjoy a long life in the land the Lord gives you." (Amplified)

Note that this commandment comes with a promise attatched to it. A long, healthy existence requires our gratefulness to God for who we are. It's impossible to thank God for our existence unless we also thank our parents. By rejecting them, we are rejecting who we are. This kind of rejection can lead to illnesses and dissolutions, and even death, both spiritual and physical. It's just not possible to reject ourselves, our parents and claim to love God.

When the human soul remains unhealed of self rejection, that spirit becomes open to all kinds of evils. We have known these kinds of people in history as Hitler and Bin Ladin and Hussein. But the good news in found in the book of Malachi 4:6. It speaks of an 'Elijah' to come, "He will turn the hearts of fathers towards the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers..."

In order to become a disciple of Christ we must first, "Hear and Do" the words of the Master, and that includes honoring our parents. This commandment cannot be skipped over for any reason.

This requires honesty with ourselves, who we are and who and what our parents are (or were) and how we truly feel about them.

If we hold any kind of unforgiveness against them, we must truly confess wrong attitudes and ask to be forgiven. Sometimes this may require seeking counsel from a spiritual leader, but most importantly it must be handed over to God. He will work this out at His will. He doesn't intend for us to handle things like this on our own.

Eph.5:20 "Always giving thanks for all things on behalf our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father."

This simply means that we are included in the eternal life of God who heals all wounds and allows us to stop demanding perfection and satisfaction. We need to remember that we were chosen by God! This is the true kingdom message-Mk.10:29-30; Is.56:5. God has so much more in store for us if we let Him take the lead in our lives.

A good example of how pointless our lives are without God is found when Job after his affliction stood before God and realized that nothing else mattered. God revealed His sovereignty to Job and made him realize that everything else in his own life was pointless. The same goes for us today, if we just hand it all over to God, our own problems will just fall away and won't matter either in His presence.

Our lives are not something that we can stand aside and consider what it would be like to have a different one. It's just not possible to be serarated from our own lives, but instead we must find the goodness of God within the lives we do have. If we can't believe that He has done well by us, then finding peace will be impossible and we will never experience the security that He has planned for us.

Without God's goodness and the fellowhip of Jesus in who we are, They cannot become the foundation for an abundant and obedient life that God desires for all His childrent to have. He only desires to dwell within each and every one of us in order to make our lives glorious in every aspect. Realizing this is being in the Light and knowing the whole plan God has for us.

Jesus expains this relationship in further detail in the book of John chapter 14. It's the Father's wish that we are all one in eachother. If we come to Christ, we can then come to the Father. It's a beautiful reltaionship.

Many people who are unbelievers feel that this just won't do justice to the bitter facts of life. We say ther are exceptions to this ideal way of thinking. There are those who have suffered sexual abuse, dreaded diseases, birth defects, wars, terrible natural and manmade disasters, and many other terrible, unfair things, too many to mention. The truth is that every person carries his or her own burden that seems unfair. But, we can't focus