Ephesians 6:1-4 says...
Today's verses are Ephesians 6:1-4, which read,
v.1 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Paul has spoken to the wives and then to the husbands and now he speaks to the children. The message is consistence with His order within the home. Children are to be submissive to the loving authority that has been put over them and they are to do this "in the Lord." The motivation and obedience is to the Someone bigger than their parents. This action by the children and how children are to respond in the dynamics of the family is right. This is given to the children but it is also given to the parents to know of the proper response that they are parenting toward.
v.2, 3 - Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
Paul then takes the children and the parents to the Biblical reference for this action of submission to the loving leadership, Deuteronomy 5:16. The Biblical basis is one of the ten commandments that has a special distinction. This commandment has a promise. Jesus makes a point on four different occasions to speak on this subject about our response to our parents. As I live this way of honoring my parents, that action will transfer over to a very holy way to relate to the culture around me in a general way and that leads to myself working to resolve rather than fight within relationships. A person who shows honor to others while doing this "in the Lord" is someone who has high integrity with actions of a peacemaker with the true Peace, Jesus Christ, in focus to his or her actions.
v.4 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Paul ends this section on children with a note to the fathers as one of the parents in this God ordered and honoring unit called the family. But the word can also be used to refer to both parents within the home with the father leading the marriage unit with his wife.
How will you parent? Paul instructs not to parent by provoking but by discipline and instruction. To provoke is to use your position to lord over and dominate in a very demanding way. To discipline and instruct is to use your position to show by your own example the life you are leading them in. The Christian parent is to lead by being a living example and with an ever increasing relationship with the child rather than just a list of rules and an ever increasing voice to shout them out.
Paul is speaking to the children but he is also talking to the parents. If you want to see honor from your children and obedience from them then how will that come about? It comes about by your example and your obedience to the instruction of the Lord as you are modeling and giving that instruction to them. The word "as" is the most important word in that last sentence. Do they have a living example in front of the them of what you are asking of them or assuming them to be like? Let's pray.
"Lord, again You gave Your disciples not just instruction but an example to follow. Your discipleship of them was not just classroom but very personal by living with them 24/7. May we see that our children that You have given to us need us to be that example of someone who truly loves God with our words and actions. Remind us that they learn quicker and they learn more by what we do rather than what we say. May what we say come out in our actions today. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.1 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Paul has spoken to the wives and then to the husbands and now he speaks to the children. The message is consistence with His order within the home. Children are to be submissive to the loving authority that has been put over them and they are to do this "in the Lord." The motivation and obedience is to the Someone bigger than their parents. This action by the children and how children are to respond in the dynamics of the family is right. This is given to the children but it is also given to the parents to know of the proper response that they are parenting toward.
v.2, 3 - Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
Paul then takes the children and the parents to the Biblical reference for this action of submission to the loving leadership, Deuteronomy 5:16. The Biblical basis is one of the ten commandments that has a special distinction. This commandment has a promise. Jesus makes a point on four different occasions to speak on this subject about our response to our parents. As I live this way of honoring my parents, that action will transfer over to a very holy way to relate to the culture around me in a general way and that leads to myself working to resolve rather than fight within relationships. A person who shows honor to others while doing this "in the Lord" is someone who has high integrity with actions of a peacemaker with the true Peace, Jesus Christ, in focus to his or her actions.
v.4 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Paul ends this section on children with a note to the fathers as one of the parents in this God ordered and honoring unit called the family. But the word can also be used to refer to both parents within the home with the father leading the marriage unit with his wife.
How will you parent? Paul instructs not to parent by provoking but by discipline and instruction. To provoke is to use your position to lord over and dominate in a very demanding way. To discipline and instruct is to use your position to show by your own example the life you are leading them in. The Christian parent is to lead by being a living example and with an ever increasing relationship with the child rather than just a list of rules and an ever increasing voice to shout them out.
Paul is speaking to the children but he is also talking to the parents. If you want to see honor from your children and obedience from them then how will that come about? It comes about by your example and your obedience to the instruction of the Lord as you are modeling and giving that instruction to them. The word "as" is the most important word in that last sentence. Do they have a living example in front of the them of what you are asking of them or assuming them to be like? Let's pray.
"Lord, again You gave Your disciples not just instruction but an example to follow. Your discipleship of them was not just classroom but very personal by living with them 24/7. May we see that our children that You have given to us need us to be that example of someone who truly loves God with our words and actions. Remind us that they learn quicker and they learn more by what we do rather than what we say. May what we say come out in our actions today. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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