5th Commandment: Honour Parents

The fifth commandment is in verse twelve, ‘Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.’

The word ‘honour’ means to give respect, to lift up. It means more than just obey. Your parents say, ‘Empty the rubbish,’ and you go empty the rubbish. Well, you have obeyed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have honoured your parents in that action. To honour them would be to empty the rubbish before you are told. To honour them means you will pick up the rubbish and take it outside and do it with a sweet spirit. It means you won’t be cantankerous about it, you won’t mutter under your breath, and you won’t have any hard feelings in your heart.

Tell me, as you sit there, that you have never muttered against your parents. Tell me you have always honoured them from the day you were born until this day. Tell me that you have always honoured your mother and father as they ought to have been honoured according to God’s Word and I will say you are a liar. Let’s call your parents, if they are still alive and tell them to give testimony. God’s law says we are to always honour our parents in everything we do. But we have dishonoured our parents, so we have broken God’s law.