Father’s Day is approaching and we have a great opportunity to redeem ourselves from this holiday. I see three ways we can do this:
(1) meditate on the love of the heavenly Father and love him with all our hearts,
(2) love our earthly parents, honor them
(3) share the gospel by talking about God’s fatherhood.
We’ll address every point in a post. Today we address the second point: honoring our parents.
? Honor your father and your mother, the second table of the law. (the part that refers to the following) The Heidelberg Catechism says:
104. What does God require in the fifth commandment?
R. Je I must pay homage, love, and fidelity to my father and my mother and all my superiors; I must submit to your good instruction and discipline with due obedience (1), and also be patient with your faults (2); because God wants to govern us with his hands (3).
(1) Ex 21:17; Pv 1: 8; Pv 4: 1; 15:20; Pr 20:20; Romans 13: 1; Ephesians 5:22; Ephesians 6: 1, 2, 5; Cl 3:18, 20. 22. (2) Pr 23:22; 1P 2:18. (3) Mt 22:21; Rom 13: 2. 4; Ephesians 6: 4; Col 3:20.
However, are we paying full attention to the problem?that we bear the fruit of a selfish and rebellious heart?Are we making excuses for not keeping God’s commandment?Do we believe that God’s commandment is good and that it is good to honor the father and mother, or do we believe that God deprives us of something by causing children to submit to their parents?
There are several questions to discuss our hearts, this commandment acts as a thermometer to measure our lives, I want to highlight two points that he reveals.
If John calls liars who claim to love God but hate their neighbor (1 John 4:20), what should we call those who say they want to honor God but not their parents? To paraphrase the apostle: for anyone who does not honor his father, whom he has seen, how can he honor God, whom he has not seen? Thus, we see that this fifth commandment is an indicator that we honor God in all others.
Paul in Ephesians 5:18-21 exhorts us to be filled with the Spirit and then describes the path of a person filled with the Spirit, listing 4 attitudes:
And do not get drunk with wine where there is strife, but be filled with the Spirit;
(1) speak among you in spiritual psalms, hymns, and chants;
(2) sing and sing to the Lord in your heart;
(3) always give thanks for everything to our God and Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(4) subject one another to God’s fear
The last attitude Paul lists is submission, then explains in detail how this is done: submit to the fear of God of the other, then deals with three relationships: (1) husbands and wives, (2) parents and children, and (3) teachers and servants?Give instructions to both groups: those who receive submission (husbands, parents, and teachers) and those who practice (wives, children, and servants). Maybe because we interrupt our reading in subtitles or chapters, do we lose the link between?Do you fill yourselves with the Spirit? and “do you, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for it is right. “Did you see her? Therefore, children, when we obey and honor our parents, we show the “fear of God” by doing what is “right” and carrying the fruits of a spirit-filled life.
Regardless of what has been said, let us all pay more attention to this commandment, knowing that when we do not honor our parents, we show that we do not honor God and that we are not filled with His Spirit.
If there is bitterness or rebellion in your heart that has prevented you from obeying this commandment, you must remember the gospel and believe more firmly in it. Your father may not deserve your love, but you don’t deserve God’s love either. Maybe your father. You did horrible things, but no worse than you did to God. Perhaps your earthly father showed nothing but hatred, but did your Heavenly Father love you?Deep, look at the cross if you have any doubts and they’ll leave. God has extended this love and forgiveness to your life and invites you to do the same. “Rather be kind to one another, benevolent, merciful, forgive one another, as God also forgave you in Christ?(Ephesians 4:32).
With fear,
Vin-cius M. Pimentel
Below, we offer an excellent Reforma21 podcast on the subject. In this document, they comment on both the importance of the commandment and the old question: “What if my father is not a believer?
We also suggest that you read the following articles: