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HONOURING FATHERS AND MOTHERS. "God spoke, and these were His words: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other god to set against Me… Honour your father and your mother, that you may live long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you." (From Exodus 20:1-17 NEB). A dilemma: What if one's own father and mother continually dishonour God? Should we still honour them? For example, if they covet, or steal, or bear false witness against others, or worship false gods instead of Almighty God, or commit adultery, or even murder, should we still honour such parents? The answer: You cannot honour dishonourable conduct. If they fornicate, or have fits of rage, or create discord in other ways, such as through jealousy, drinking bouts, or have selfish ambitions, or indulge in orgies, or in other forms of idolatry, should you still honour them? Certainly not! For if you do, you are sharing with them in their sins and condoning their behaviour by continuing to hold them in high esteem, thereby dishonouring the Spirit Law of God. Parents indulging in any of the aforementioned sins are not fathers or mothers deserving of honour from their offspring. "Anyone can see the kind of behaviour that belongs to the lower nature: fornication, impurity, and indecency; idolatry and sorcery; quarrels, a contentious temper, envy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, party intrigues, and jealousies; drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who behave in such ways will never inherit the Kingdom of God. But the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law dealing with such things as these. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have [sacrificed] the lower nature with its passions and desires. If the Spirit is the source of our life, let the Spirit also direct our course." (Gal 5:19-25 NEB). To avoid dishonouring Almighty God our Heavenly Father, what can sons and daughters do regarding dishonourable parents? Since "love means following the commands of God", we cannot share in a close relationship with those practicing such sins and continuing to live according to the "lower nature" of the flesh. (2 John V.6 NEB). Honour is a spiritual quality, and must be earned by one's obedience to the Word of God. God is Holy.
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