Honour

 "Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/exo.20.12.ESV

Note what this verse doesn't say. It doesn't say to honour our fathers and mothers if they're honourable. Simply for bringing us into the world, they should be honoured.

If even bad parents are honoured, hopefully our honour of them will convict them to be better parents. As Jesus said, 'if you, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father'. We don't have to let our parents lead us into sin if they're bad parents, but we do have to honour them.

Paul notes that this is the first of the ten commandments with a promise. Even now, secular studies suggest that if we're not stressed out (for example by fractious relationships with parents) we're likely to live longer. We should honour our parents because it's the right thing to do, but it's good to know there's good consequences for us if we do.

Of course, parents have responsibilities of their own, to look after their children and not to exasperate them. We all as children however need to heed this command. If we don't honour our own parents, how can we be expected to honour our heavenly Father?

'Father in heaven, thank You for our parents. Please help us to honour them, even when it's hard to do so, for Your honour and praise we pray, amen'

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