In this text, Paul charges children to show honor to their parents. To honor means “to prize highly, or to show respect.”
We cannot teach our children to honor or respect us; it must be earned. As our children, our closest observers, watch our lives and listen to our words, their respect for us will either grow or diminish. Their attitude toward us will be molded by what they see us do and hear us say. They will learn to respect others by seeing how we respect others. They will see how we relate to our parents and act accordingly. If we treat our parents with honor, they will learn that the command to honor parents is a lifetime command, not one that ends when we move away and begin our own families.
By earning the respect of our children and by giving honor to our own parents, we will all become recipients of God’s promise, and it will “be well with [us] and [we will] live long on the earth.”
