“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

Exodus 20:12

Undoubtedly you’ve heard that the first half of the Ten Commandments regard mankind’s relationship to God and the second half of the commandments are directed toward our relationships with other men and women.

So, here we are at the beginning of the second half of the list beginning with the most important of all relationships – our parents. After all, we all are indebted to our parents for our very lives, aren’t we?

How do we honor our parents? Honor is more than paying lip service to love for our parents. Over the last few months, I’ve given a fair amount of consideration to my parents. I’m reminded again and again that my honoring my parents is reflected in the way I conduct myself. Even after their deaths, I would never want to dishonor them in any way.

And then there is the promise associated with this commandment. There is an immediate benefit to honor and obedience, but there is also a long-term benefit to learning from the wisdom and knowledge of our parents.