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Learn to Treat Your Parents Right (Ex 20:12; Col 3:20; Pr 1:8-9) ------------------------------------------------------- Pastor David shared about how he took a job nearer to his parents so he could be near enough to care for them in their old age even though the job was for less money than he could have made. All of our relationships start with God, but our first and most important human relationship is with our parents. We don’t honor them because they are perfect, and it doesn’t mean that everything they do is OK. We don’t need to always agree with them. We need to make sure that we don’t ignore God in favor of honoring our parents. Obedience to our parents pleases the Lord, but obeying Him always has higher priority. We must treat our parents rightly within the bounds of what God requires of us (Col 3:20; Eph 6:1). Moms and dads are to be the “front line” of discipleship. Children may not always appreciate their parent’s rules and instructions, but these come from love. Some parents want to be a friend to their children, so they don’t correct, rebuke, and discipline them when they need it. Children need for their parents to be adults who love and obey God more than anyone or anything else. The church partners with the parents to help them raise up Godly children. Parents need to make the most of every day they have with their children, and children need to realize that they won’t always have their parents around. God matters. Trivial, temporary things don’t. Doing things His way is the best path to having a blessed life (Prov 1:8-9). Honoring our parents results in being honored and respected by others because of our character. We should honor our parents for a lifetime. It will sometimes be hard, but it is a command from God. A society that doesn’t honor its parents will not last. Application points: -- Work to have the best attitude toward your parents you can -- As children, obey them in anything that doesn’t disobey God. -- As we get older, treat them well. Keep listening, keep loving, and be there when it gets hard. There is a fight for life in our society about “expendable” human lives. The older and weaker, those whose “quality of life” isn’t as good as it once was are increasingly vulnerable to being institutionalized or even euthanized.