Honour your father & mother

27/1/11 Exodus 7-20; Acts 3

S: Exodus 20:12 “Honour your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

O: This was part of the 10 Commandments, the most central part of the Law of Moses. While there is some dispute among Christians as to whether the laws still apply in the New Testament, there is usually no dispute as to whether the principles apply.

Ephesians 6:2 points out that this is the first commandment with a promise.

A: I find this commandment very hard to apply because of competing commandments. When I was single, it was already hard to apply because my parents are not believers and sometimes wanted me to do things which I felt were wrong from a Biblical perspective.

But things got even more complicated after marriage – scripture also teaches that I must leave my parents and cleave to my wife, that the two of us become one. (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:7).

With Chinese New Year coming up next week, I was faced with this again last week, as incompatible desires from different parts of my family competed. My first entry in the Life Journal’s prayer section was in fact regarding this matter. Praise God, I think we have a compromise worked out for now.

P: Father, please give me wisdom how to honour my parents, especially when there are competing requirements and I am unclear what the right thing to do is. Please send your Holy Spirit before us this upcoming Chinese New Year gatherings and help me to be able to honour them and be winsome and good witnesses for you while balancing the needs of others.