Let's find out what God says about

Honoring your Mother and Father!  

"Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother." Deuteronomy 27:16  

One of the most blessed things that you could do is to honor your Mother and your Father even when you feel that their wrong and your right.

How important is it to God that we honor our Mother and Father? Of all the Ten Commandments, There is only one that ends with a promise!

"that if you honor your father and your mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing." Ephesians 6:1-3

"Children this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you. Honor your father and mother.

How many good, loving parents who have cherished their own children dearly would gladly without hesitation give their own life to protect children. And as much as we love dear with all or our hearts, how many times have we greatly disappointed, hurt and let our own children down. I know, because I am one of those parents, who try so hard to raise a teenager, and still I have made my share of mistakes.

By our own wrong choice of words or rash actions of falsely judging or trying to shame or embarrass our children. Being falsely motivated by our own fears of hoping that our stern or misplaced words will help keep them out of trouble. Where we as loving parents fight back the tears, knowing we spoke out of fear and not faith and trust as we wish later that we could have taken back our own actions or words from a chaotic moment that we were ill prepared to handle. The truth is, we as parent's are far from perfect. As imperfect as we are, you would not be here  without parents or someone who has chosen to love and care for you, none of us would be here today!

If you could be like Jesus for just one moment and be able to look into your parents heart, you would know that as much as they get into your face and tell you things that you may not want to hear, that they are trying to keep you from making the same mistakes that they made.

And yet, as much as we love you as parents, we will still make mistakes in raising you.

Some times because we love you so much, especially if we feel that if there is a chance that you might get hurt in the choice of your friends or the places that they hang out in, if theres a chance that their active in drugs, drinking or even premarital sex. Because we believe that we have raise you right,  It's not about if we trust you as much as we dont trust the situations of intense peer pressure that you might get involved in.

So forgive us as parents who are still learning to let you have wings so that you may fly and have your freedom to enjoy life as God has intended.

We are still learning day by day that we are only stewards over our children, so just as you are growing up. We as parents are growing into a trust relationship with you as well as learning to put our complete trust in God.

So love your parent's dearly and show them the proper respect, even when you think their wrong or that they don't understand you. 

Always put your validation of who you really are in God. Sometimes parents makes a mistake because they are human. You will find that it is far easier to forgive them, because you took them off the "pedestal of perfection" where you used to think as a young child that they could do no wrong. 

I know how much pain and how much it hurts when you value your parents opinion of yourself. And then just like that, your parent says something that really blows you right out of the water by the wrong choice of words said in a heated moment. Words that can cut so deep and hurt us so much worse than even a physical cut.

It's when we hear them from somebody who we value their opinion very highly. It's because we put them on a high "pedestal of perfection"and we feel safe that they won't hurt us, like they just did.

 And then, when we react back from a place of great hurt, we say things that we feel will hurt them back as much as they have hurt us. And before you know it, both of you are no longer as close as you used to me as a younger child. This is not the time to develop pride, God's Word says "Pride goeth before destruction."

 It may not seem like it at the time, but when your parents say words that hurt you, words that there going to regret later. It hurts them at the very moment that they say them to you. Our pride and pain keep us from holding back from lashing out at those we love the most.

 When your parents have a chance later to have a moment of quiet time to reflect on the words that they just said to you earlier. They themselves will hurt inside for saying them to you. They will regret their words and their actions, and if you can find it within your heart to be receptive to their feelings for hurting you. And when this does happen to you, and it will. You will understand with God's wisdom, that they are not perfect, and that there is only one that is perfect, and that is Jesus Christ.

Jesus being perfect, we (mankind) still said things to hurt Him. We lied about Him, falsely accused Him of crimes that He did not commit.

For one moment, think of all the skeletons that people feel that they have in their closet of shame. After Peter had physically walked the earth with Jesus for years, and seeing His miracles change the world first hand, would not Peter denying that he knew the Son of God not once but three times as they were torturing Him not rank as one of the most shameful moments in our lives were we would hide in our closet of shame so that we would not rather admit to anyone else as long as we should live.

God believes in you

Reverend Michael Cartwright

 WOWFaith Devotionals