Obeying Your Parents

''Take out the trash."  "Clean up your room."  "Get your homework done." "Study your Bible lesson." You have probably heard statements like these many times in your life. Yet, how often do you dis­ obey the instructions your parents give you?

You may not think that obeying your parents is really all that important. You may consider "forgetting'' to take out the trash, or failing to get your Bible lesson completed before Sunday, as minor offenses. If this is your attitude (and many young people think this way), you need to consider what God says about   obeying your parents.

The apostle Paul, in writing his letter to the church at Colosse, specifically targeted children with these words: "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord" (Colossians 3:20). Paul believed that this message was so important that he also repeated it when writing to the church at Ephesus. He instructed young people, saying:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise:  "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth" (Ephesians 6:1-3).

This passage is a quotation from the fifth law in the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai (read Exodus 20:12).

The reason  that Paul  said this  is "the first commandment  with  promise"  is  because  this commandment  was the first one with  a special promise  attached to it. Generally, a person who obeys and honors his or her parents will have a longer, happier, and more useful life on this Earth than those who do not. Granted, sometimes an obedient child may die in a tragic accident, but that child will not die for many of the reasons that disobedient young people die. Since respectful children do not take illegal drugs, steal- from individuals or businesses, or hang out with people who are involved with such sins, they will not be at risk for harm like many disobedient children. The simple truth is, if you want to be happy, both in this life and the next one, then you need to make sure that you obey your parents. This is a command from God.

The only time to disobey your parents is if they tell you to do something different than what the Bible says. Although most Christian mothers and fathers want their children to obey God's Word, there are some parents in this world who do not like the teachings of the Bible. In this case, you must remember what the apostles said nearly 2,000 years ago: 'We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

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