Honor Your Father and Your Mother

Ok.. wow. I cannot believe how Yehovah works in our lives and brings things to our attention. Many times He uses other people and sometimes those people bring something to our attention in a way we do not like. I know I had just that experience a few days ago and I was NOT happy with the way my Father was trying to speak to me. Looking back now I am extremely grateful for the gentle and loving rebuke because it really made me see myself for what I really am. So thank you to that sister who obeyed Yehovah and lovingly rebuked me.

For those who dont know I grew up in a home where my parents were almost always at odds with another and I was often put in the middle of the situations which I resented very much. I dealt with watching and receiving alot of emotional and mental abuse and really became familiar with all the ways of a dysfunctional family. My parents always stayed married (still are) and presented themselves and all of us as an amazing and wonderful family. But behind closed doors my home was not a safe place for me emotionally and its something I have struggled with into my adult life. Sadly I carried alot of the baggage of childhood with me. I have worked through alot and done ALOT of healing in the past year  thanks to an amazing sister who has been a mentor to me and an even more amazing Father. I was always the strong- willed child (still am today) and I was always a leader, never a follower. Mom always told me this was a wonderful trait if used correctly and I see what she means now. My spiritual journey has taken a turn from the traditions and ways in which I was brought up in and that has been a source of contention between my parents and I. From my perspective my parents have become less interested in the things of God and more interested in compromise. I feel my life has gone the opposite way and it bothers me to feel like spiritually I am losing the connection with my parents. I do love them but they can tend to be a source of frustration, anger and sarcasm for me. In my most recent "issue" with them I left the conversation feeling very angry, very hurt, very frustrated and so many other negative things. I vented to some friends like I typically do and it was brought to my attention that I was violating the 5th commandment - to honor my father and my mother. I felt convicted and so I decided to study just what honor really meant and I will share below what I learned.

The Hebrew word for honor is "kabed". It is literally a word about weight. It means "to be heavy". Honor is to give weight to someone. That is a metaphor for important, respect, consideration and value. Honor means to treat your parents with the gravity that their position demands. The opposite of honor is "kalel". The word is always translated as "to curse", but its literal meaning is to make light of. One curses ones parents not only if one directs curses at them, but if one treats them lightly. h

The Bible has some pretty strong things to say about this and below are just a few of the verses that speak about this.

       
Proverbs 30:17  The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

Proverbs 20:20  Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

Leviticus 19:3  Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

Exodus 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

I know I have been convicted and need to talk to my parents and ask their forgiveness for not truly honoring them. I am so thankful I received a rebuke from the Father. There is so much flesh still in me and I try to crucify it daily, but I often fail. These are the times I so thankful for grace and mercy.

What about you.. if your parents are still alive, in what ways do you honor them?  Just something to ponder and pray about.