Ephesians 6:1-3

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

Ephesians 6:1-3

Y'know, I have difficulty with these verses.  Now, I know that this is God's word and I need to heed to what he says.  For me to take and twist it to my liking is wrong.  So, I must try my best to seek to know God's word and obey it.  That being said, it's difficult for me.  I don't like listening to my parents and perhaps many people feel the same way.  However, there it is, plain and simple, "obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right".  NLT puts it this way, "Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord".  It is because you belong to the Lord that you obey your parents.  That is very interesting.  In any case, we are called to obey our parents.

Now, many may bring up objections to this command.  Perhaps you parents command things that are difficult or wrong to follow.  I don't really want to go into all kinds of exceptions, but one main thing would be to obey God first.  God tells us to obey our parents, but he also tells us not to sin.  So, if parents are instructing you to sin, don't do it.  Obey God first, but don't try to use that as an excuse not to obey your parents.  That's exactly what the Pharisees were doing, trying to use a "loophole" in order to avoid honoring their parents.

Thinking about this, I am reminded about the earlier verse to wives.  Wives are called to submit to their husbands.  This is a touchy subject and there are many interesting cases where to submit is a little complicated.  The command to submit still stands, but to obey God in submitting to ones husband may not always be what you'd suspect.  Instead, in all cases, we pray that God gives wisdom and guidance to know how wives are to obey God in each and every circumstance, especially when it's difficult.  In the same way, I ask and pray that God continually show me how I am to obey my parents.  A hard thing it may be, but it is ultimately God who I obey.