Post by Sheila on May 21, 2024 14:54:39 GMT -5
Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother."
Whether or not a person is a Christian, they should honor their parents. This means to show them respect, accept their authority, obey them, and appreciate them. As children, teens, or young adults, people are under the supervision and guidance of their parents, not their friends, teachers, and so on. If they don't have a parent because of death or other reasons, the same honor should be given to whoever is serving as their guardian.
This honor and respect doesn't end when a person is old enough to be independent of their parents, although the description of "honor" may change. As adults, once independent of parental supervision, a person doesn't have to do everything their parents tell them to do or even follow every bit of their advice. The exception would be if the adult child is still living in their parent's home. The parents can establish rules for living there and the child should respect those rules. An independent adult is free to choose to make their own decisions, whether good or bad. That doesn't mean the person can also disrespect their parents by the way they talk to or about them and not show any appreciation for anything they do to help, now or in the future. As the parents get older and need more help, the now adult child should remember everything their parents did for them when they were younger and start doing those kinds of things for their parents. At any age, a child should give up some of their time and spend time with their parents.
I've been asked, "What if my parents don't deserve my respect?" As asked, without any more details, the answer is to respect and honor your parents. Digging a little deeper, it may be found a parent or both parents are abusing their child or telling them to do things which can harm them physically and/or mentally. If this is the case, then the child may disobey the parent. Also, if either parent orders the child to do something that goes against any of God's other commands, the child may disobey the parent. God's laws and rules take precedence over any human's orders. It's not considered disrespectful for a child of any age to tell the police or someone else in authority if the parents are mistreating them; however, it would be disrespectful to "trash talk" about them and spread rumors and so on to people who really don't have to know about what's going on. This is especially true when it comes to posting all your "dirty laundry" on social media sites.
Whether or not a person is a Christian, they should honor their parents. This means to show them respect, accept their authority, obey them, and appreciate them. As children, teens, or young adults, people are under the supervision and guidance of their parents, not their friends, teachers, and so on. If they don't have a parent because of death or other reasons, the same honor should be given to whoever is serving as their guardian.
This honor and respect doesn't end when a person is old enough to be independent of their parents, although the description of "honor" may change. As adults, once independent of parental supervision, a person doesn't have to do everything their parents tell them to do or even follow every bit of their advice. The exception would be if the adult child is still living in their parent's home. The parents can establish rules for living there and the child should respect those rules. An independent adult is free to choose to make their own decisions, whether good or bad. That doesn't mean the person can also disrespect their parents by the way they talk to or about them and not show any appreciation for anything they do to help, now or in the future. As the parents get older and need more help, the now adult child should remember everything their parents did for them when they were younger and start doing those kinds of things for their parents. At any age, a child should give up some of their time and spend time with their parents.
I've been asked, "What if my parents don't deserve my respect?" As asked, without any more details, the answer is to respect and honor your parents. Digging a little deeper, it may be found a parent or both parents are abusing their child or telling them to do things which can harm them physically and/or mentally. If this is the case, then the child may disobey the parent. Also, if either parent orders the child to do something that goes against any of God's other commands, the child may disobey the parent. God's laws and rules take precedence over any human's orders. It's not considered disrespectful for a child of any age to tell the police or someone else in authority if the parents are mistreating them; however, it would be disrespectful to "trash talk" about them and spread rumors and so on to people who really don't have to know about what's going on. This is especially true when it comes to posting all your "dirty laundry" on social media sites.
And please remember, no matter what the so-called child experts say, it's not abuse if the parents punish a child by grounding them, taking away their cell phone, making them do extra chores, and so on. These are actions taken as forms of discipline. Although most people think disrespect is anything that happens face to face, disrespect and dishonoring parents can be done by spreading rumors or lies about their parents. This most often happens when a child wants to seem "cool" to their peers and talk bad about parents who aren't really bad.
* All quotes are from the New International Version of the Bible.
Copyright © 2024 by Sheila Rae Myers