Honor with Your Heart

Honor your father and your mother.  Exodus 20:12

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  Colossians 3:20, 23, 24

Props: two pieces of fruit that both look good, one fresh and one rotten

            (Read Exodus 20:12).

Maybe you’re thinking, “Cool, I’ve got this commandment down.  I always do what my parents tell me.”  And that’s great; you should be obedient!  But that’s just part of honoring your parents.  To honor your parents means to obey them with a good attitude.  It’s not enough to just do what they say.  You have to have a good attitude, too. 

            Some of you may think it doesn’t matter what your attitude is like, but that’s the most important thing.  Look at these pieces of fruit.  (Show fruit).  Don’t they both look so nice?  It looks like you could just bite into either of these fruits and enjoy them.  But let’s take a closer look.  (Cut into each piece of fruit, commenting on its inward appearance).  Even though both pieces of fruit look nice, one is fresh and one is rotten.  It really matters what’s on the inside!   

            Colossians 3 says, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  When your parents ask you to do something, you should do it as if Jesus himself asked you to do it.  You should clean your room like you’re cleaning it for Jesus.  You should do your homework as if God Himself is asking you to do it.  You should share with your brother or sister as if God is telling you to. 

            When you obey your parents with a good attitude, you are like this fresh piece of fruit.  Your heart is right before God.  But when you have a bad attitude, even if you do what your parents say, your heart looks like this rotten piece of fruit to God. 

            God wants you to obey, but He is also concerned about the attitude of your heart.  Are you obeying just to stay out of trouble, or are you obeying because you truly honor your parents and God?

Remember, honor your parents.  Honoring means to obey with a good attitude and from your heart!