TRAIL GUIDE: Honor Your Parents
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
EXTREME MAKEOVER, Unit 2, Section 1, Lesson 2: Honor Your Parents (The Bridge)
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12.
‘Honor’ is a word that has fallen out of favor in our modern western culture. This is particularly the case when it comes to the giving of honor to parents by children, whether grown or still at home. The fifth command is the first of six commands that God gives concerning our behavior towards our fellow man. It is the “bridge” between the commands about loving God and those about loving our neighbor. So it is fitting that in our study we will begin here. This week, we will look at what it means to “honor” our parents. We’ll consider how this is a picture for how children relate to their Heavenly Father. As you prepare this week take some time to consider how you “honor” your own parents, even if they may not be very “honorable.”
As you prepare your heart and mind for this week’s lesson, take a fresh look at some of these verses and make a mental note of the ways in which we can honor our parents, our elders, and everyone else. God puts much value – or weight, as the root of the Hebrew word for “honor” indicates – on age and the elderly. Scripture is clear that special deference and care must be given to our parents and elders, especially those within our own family. Consider the ancient Chinese culture, which places great value on honoring parents, and their longevity as a civilization when you read anew this “command with a promise.”
“Everyone should provide for his own relatives. Most of all, everyone should take care of his own family. If he doesn’t, he has left the faith. He is worse than someone who doesn’t believe.” – 1 Timothy 5:8
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Lev 19:3 | Eph 6:1-4 | Prov 1:8
Prov 23:22 | Matt 15:4-6
1 Tim 5:8 | Lev 19:32 | Deut 5:16