Obeying Our Parents in the Lord
Written by Jennifer P.

 

My dear sisters in Christ, as I sat down and considered the topic of this month's edition, I found myself pondering the essence of true obedience. Since the moment I was born, my parents sought to bring me up in "the nurture and admonition of the Lord." (Eph 6:4) At an early age they began to discipline me and I found that my parents meant it when they said "Obey." Yet the sinful nature is an intrical part of our being and I remember well receiving the punishment my disobedience had merited. As I have grown older, I no longer receive the spankings for an act of disobedience, but the importance of my obedience to my parents has by no means diminished. Rather it has increased. As a young woman, I am still under the headship of my father and if the Lord tarries, that headship will one day be transferred over to my husband. Allow me to share with you a few of my thoughts on the importance of obedience to the Lord and to our parents.

The most basic reason for obedience would be because we are commanded to obey by God in the Holy Scriptures. What little child has not memorized Eph 6:1-"Children obey your parents in the Lord..." and the 5th commandment (Ex 20:12)? Surely the fact that God has commanded it should be enough of a reason for us to obey. If we obey in everything, then shouldn't we be fine? I don't think so. This is one of the many grave mistakes that the children of Israel made. They became so enamored and immersed with their desire to obey every letter of the law, that they forgot the true meaning behind the laws they were obeying. Here is where I see a line drawn between learned obedience and true obedience. Spank a child enough times and he will learn to obey because he does not enjoy the spanking. At other times, a child ( or teenager) will obey because they have learned that obedience brings more privileges ( How often we find ourselves responding even this way towards our Father in Heaven! ) Yet supposing we could manage (as the Israelites tried to do in the extreme) to obey every letter of the law. We could be in obedience and yet be in sin. Our obedience would be as empty as the Pharisees'. We would become proud of even our own obedience and therefore we would sin.

This leads me to my second reason and what I consider to be a major part of true obedience. Colossians 3:20 states "Children obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." The obedience that God seeks is from the heart. As we grow older, the command to obey should no longer be just a command, but a desire in our lives. Do we obey because we know it pleases God and our parents? A lot can be learned about the parents by the actions and character of the children. We have a duty to not destroy our parents testimony by our desire to do as we please. How grieved our parents are when we choose to do wrong, and even much more so is the Lord, our Heavenly Father. Do we obey because we respect the fact that our parents know more than we do and that they instruct us out of love? Many young people think that as they get older they no longer need to obey the instruction of their parents. They think that they are wise in their own eyes. They have done their "duty" when they were young, now they desire to "do their own thing." My friends this is how we fall. Consider Prov 1:5, 8-9. To have that mind set is not being wise; it is selfish foolishness. Those people have no care in their heart for the terrible heartache they are bringing their parents. True obedience is a complete putting of ourselves aside and desiring the joy of others. True obedience comes from a desire of love, to bring honor (Eph 6:2), and praise to the ones who have given of themselves to raise us and show us the One with Whom we have to do.

Herein is my utmost reason for the importance of obedience. We are to obey even as Christ obeyed. Phil 2:8 "...He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." You think, "Christ had to learn obedience?" Yes, even Our Savior, the perfect, sinless, God-man, learned obedience by the things He suffered (Heb 5:8). We are told in I Cor 11:1 that we are to be followers of Christ, even as dear children (Eph 5:1) To be followers of Christ has the meaning of being "imitators" or "mimickers" of Christ. As He has done, so should we. If Christ in His infiniteness knew the importance of obedience, how much more then should we, being finite, seek to follow His example? Christ prayed "...nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt." (Matt 26:39) What a perfect example of total submission to God! My friends, to be used by God, we must be willing to bow before God in complete submission to Him. God cannot use those who do not obey. He has given us many examples of those who have been obedient to their authority and to God in His Word. Take for example the obedience of Noah, Esther, and Abraham. See how Saul disobeyed God's commands and the punishment he received. See the Israelites who were promised that if they would obey the commands of the Lord, they would receive blessing ( Deut 11:26 - 28a), and the punishment they are receiving because they did not. If we truly desire to be used of God and to be made into the likeness of His Son, then we must learn true obedience.

I pray that this has been as great a blessing to you as it has been to me. I realize that I have only scratched the surface of even the few reasons I listed! I pray that the Lord our God will truly teach us to obey.