Honor your father and your mother




Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.




♬ Hymn for scheduled worship: Korean/English Hymnal #559 All Year in Our Home the Spring Breezes Blow (#305 in previous version)





 The fifth commandment of the Ten Commandments is “Honor your father and your mother.” This doesn’t simply mean that we should listen to our parents. We must discover three things as follows.





1. We must become people that are fit to honor our parents
 If our life is characterized by failure, we cannot perform our filial duty. We must become people who are capable of making money in order to make money. Likewise, it is more important to become people who are fit to honor parents than to honor parents. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Therefore, the fundamental beginning is to hold to the covenant. That we have the covenant just like the 7 Remnants who had the Gospel is the starting point of success. Giving genuine honor to parents is possible only when we are in the seat of genuine success. The beginning of true filial duty is not to be deceived and not to waver no matter what kind of present reality, problems, conflicts or difficulties come our way but rather, to turn them into God’s blessings.






2. Turning family problems into the platform for blessings
 We must have the mystery of turning good things at home into a platform for blessings and bad things into a platform for greater blessings. We mustn’t be robbed of the blessings that we should receive on account of various problems and failures. If we succumb to failures, we will not be able to see the future but instead, fall into the fate of the past. We may not explain all our family problems to people, but God knows. Hold onto them as messages and challenge with prayer. We will enjoy greater answers that others cannot enjoy.






3. Discovering an important future and making a resolution
 Though we may have problems, whether it be poverty, conflict with parents or things just not working out for us no matter how hard we try because we don’t have the reasonable attitude of life, there is a future for those who understand the Gospel and hold onto the covenant. If so, then it is important to make a few resolutions for the future that God will bring. Do not make excuses when faced with any problem. Holding grudges and complaining will not make us look forward but will tie us down to the past. The Bible tells us that we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). In addition we must be able to think beyond what ordinary people think. This is the thinking that we can have only when we see our family and the world with the Gospel. This is called spiritual insight. We can rise above our human limitations when we have this spiritual insight. It is not that we are overcoming the limitations but God is providing us with the spiritual power to overcome them.






● Forum Topic - It is genuine filial duty to not complain but turn problems into a platform and have success with spiritual insight. Begin the covenantal prayer for your family and parents today.






Immanuel Church Sunday Worship 1st Service / 2009.8.16