Did you know there are more verses in Scripture about caring for your parents than about parenting your children?
I was shocked to find out about this. It’s even one of the 10 Commandments.
There are a lot of things you can do that store up treasure in heaven but God makes clear there is one thing that will always lead to blessing for your life here on Earth—to Honor your Father and Mother (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:2).
Why does God care about this so much?
One reason that surprised me was that He seems to see it as a matter of justice.
In God’s eyes we owe our parents a lot: “But if [a widow] has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.” 1 Timothy 5:4
Most young adults today think their parents owe them.
We’re taught in Psychology 101 all the ways our parents screwed us up, and of course they did, but what we don’t often talk about are the endless ways they provided for us, protected us and loved us in their own imperfect way and now that we’re grown we owe them a return.
God knows the real scales and He seems to think they tend to tilt dramatically toward our parents.
(Of course I want to make clear this is very different if you had abuse or an abandonment situation in your childhood family.)
This month my Dad turned to 73!
And my Dad loves baseball.
So we headed to the Red’s Stadium. The day couldn’t be more perfect. A gentle breeze was blowing, the river was sparkling and the Reds totally annihilated the Cubs. 🙂
My Dad got to watch surrounded by peanut shells and many of his grandchildren.
Invest in your future of your multigenerational family.
Take pleasure in finding creative ways to honor your father and mother.
Jeremy
This entry is a part of Jeremy’s Journal, a newsletter Jeremy sends out every Wednesday morning to encourage you on your parenting journey. You can sign up to get them every Wednesday here.
