Why Do I Have To Obey My Parents?

Ephesians 6:1-3 (for the young people)

Why should you Honor and obey your parents?

Introduction:

When God gave to Moses the Ten Commandments, He gave them a complete system. In it, He placed everything that was necessary for His people to be an example to the other nations. You see, God wants His people to be different. God wants His people to show love, mercy, and honor. The Ten Commandments all go together. And the fifth commandment is to honor your Father and your Mother.

Paul tells us here in his letter to the church at Ephesus that the most important way for us to honor our parents is to obey them.

This is not an option for God’s people. And right here in the Bible, we see how important it is for you young people to listen, obey, and honor your parents, because the Bible says that honoring your parents will ensure you a safe journey through life.

You know, there are some things you do that will tell you if you don’t really honor your parents:

If you’re looking for ways to do the things that you know Mom and Dad don’t like.

If you’re always thinking up excuses to tell your friends why you can’t do the things they do.

If you’re thinking about what will please your friends more than what will please your parents.

God requires of all of us that we honor our parents.

That’s the system He set up. And He has set it up in such a way that, even if the parents don’t believe in God, or don’t always obey God’s commandments – if the children honor and obey their parents, God will be able to bless that family and use the children as a witness to God’s love.

Did you know that there are many reasons why God created people the way He did? And that means that when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them a way to have children. That means that it was God’s idea to have children on the earth.

And here are Top Ten Reasons Why God Created Children:

10. Because parents never know how to dress right with the latest fashion.

9. So when kids come back from Sunday School, they can show their parents where to find John 3:16 in the Bible.

8. To keep parents from believing they know all the answers.

7. To help parents with their communication skills by explaining things the easy way.

6. To hold parents responsible for keeping God’s commandments by forcing them to set an example.

5. To teach their parents what true forgiveness is all about.

4. To give parents a fast moving target when there are things to do around the house that they ought to be doing themselves.

3. To give frustrated fathers and worried mothers a really good reason to be faithful to Jesus Christ.

2. Payback for the grandparents.

1. To teach parents what God goes through every time they disobey His Commandments.

God knows what He is doing.

When Mom or Dad question what you’re up to, it isn’t because we don’t trust you. If we’ve never heard of the type of music you’re listening to, if we’ve never been to a certain place you want to hang out at, if we don’t know about the friend that you’ve made and we don’t know their parents – we’re going to ask question’s. Why? Is it because we don’t trust you? No, it’s because we don’t trust the other guy.

It’s because we’ve learned many things the hard way, and we want to protect you the best way we can.

It’s because we have done the things you’re doing now, and we know when you need to be careful, and we know that certain things are bad for you. That’s why we don’t do those things anymore, and that’s why we took you to church this morning. You see, your parents know what’s good for you.

It’s because – those things that Mom and Dad just won’t seem to let you do – we’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt. And some of us have learned the hard way.

King Solomon said in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

Everything has always been the same in this world.

We are all born with a nature that wants to do things our way.

That means nobody had to tell you how to disobey your parents. You learned all by yourself. That means nobody had to teach you how to hide from your parents the things that you know will upset them. But remember, even though you may be a young Christian this morning, most of the people you see in school, and in your neighborhood are not. And we know the things that most people do in this world have nothing to do with the things that God wants them to do.