Honoring one's parents is very important to God. We're going to look at God's promised blessings to those who honor their parents. But first let's look at Proverbs 30, where God warns of the danger of dishonoring one's father and mother.

The First Commandment With a Promise
God can be quite graphic when He wants to get a point across. Look at His description of the person who dishonors his parents:

The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young vultures will devour it.
(Prov. 30:17, AMP)

In other words, God is letting us know that it definitely won't go well with us if we don't honor our parents!

On the other hand, God promises great blessings to those who honor their parents:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord [as His representatives], for this is just and right. Honor (esteem and value as precious) your father and your mother—this is the first commandment with a promise—That all may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.
(Ephesians 6:1-3, AMP)

You see, God's promise goes with the commandment to honor your parents. If you honor, esteem and value them as precious, things will go well with you in this life. Not only that, but God promises you will live long on this earth.

Obey Parents In The Lord
Notice God's command to children is, "Obey your parents in the Lord." That is speaking of parents who are following God and not parents who are acting contrary to God's Word.

Of course, Ephesians was written to Christians, not to the world. For the most part, children in Christian families won't face the kind of difficult situations some children in the world go through.

Overcoming Strife With God's Love
Many Christian families do face problems, however, between parents and children. In some Christian homes, the father and mother love and honor God, but the children have gone astray and are dishonoring their parents in the process. These children can just count on it: Things will not go well with them.

In other Christian families, the parents aren't fulfilling their responsibility to raise their children "[tenderly] in the training and discipline and the counsel and admonition of the Lord." (Eph. 6:4, AMP)

The missing ingredient in both these situations is the love of God.

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries