Honor Your Parents

Honor Your Parents

September 9, 2007 Evening Service

Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK

Rick Boyne

Message Point: Honor your parents

Focus Passage: Exodus 20: 12

The first 4 commandments are horizontal; the last six are vertical.

Honoring your parents is the pathway to God’s blessing

Honoring parents teaches your kids how to treat you.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)

Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves poisoned the fountain.” ~ John Locke

I. Honor your parents by obeying them

a. This is the “At Home” Stage

b. You need to MAKE THEM OBEY

c. “...of all those kids arrested in my city for hitting their parents, only 1.9% received any type of corporal punishment as they were being raised. Less than 2% of these aggressive, angry children were spanked! The non-spanking "experts" contend that spanking a child makes them angry and aggressive. The exact opposite is true!” Kids who have temper fits and show other bad behavior when they’re young may end up in prison cells when they’re older, says a new British study... they found that certain childhood behaviors were associated with later criminal behavior. . . habitually disobedient children had a 170% higher risk. . . Tantrums were linked to a 261% increased risk of an adult conviction for violence...

II. Honor your parents by valuing their advice

a. "A wise son heeds his father’s instruction..." Proverbs 13:1

III. Honor your parents by showing your appreciation

a. "When your mother is old, show her your appreciation." Proverbs 23:22 (TEV)

IV. Honor your parents by meeting their needs

a. "But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show their commitment to God at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.....But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." 1 Timothy 5:8 (NKJV)

V. Honor your parents by forgiving their failings

a. Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a choice to not hold on to anger or the desire for revenge.

b. "If you let the sun go down while you are still angry, the devil is going to have a foothold in your life.” Ephesians 4:26-27

I know there are some of you here today thinking, “I am NEVER going to be able to honor HIM/HER. . . Not after what he/she’s done.”

I’m probably talking to some people whose parents:

* divorced, and left you hanging.

* fought, and you were caught in the middle.

* abused you physically.

Invitation: “How do I honor someone who never once honored me?”

What is God asking of you this morning, is God asking you to put on a mask and pretend it never happened?

No, He is not. He knows how sorry your parents were! But he’s here this morning to ask you to take this step toward honoring your parents – forgive.

Give up your right to hold bitterness and a desire for revenge. Give up your right to always think of them with contempt.

Then, ask God to begin using you as a channel for his love. You can’t create love in your own heart. God is the source of love. Ask him to simply pour his love for them into your heart. . . and OVER TIME, as you continually make the choice to forgive, you’ll sense an attitude change in your heart.