Word fpr the day "Honoring your Parents"

Honoring Our ParentsDeuteronomy 5:16 (NKJV) "Honor your father and mother, as the LORD your God commanded you. Then you will live along, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you"In the 12 step recovery program the 4th step says We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. I think all people should have to do a 4th step in their lives; Introspection is necessary for Spiritual transformation. We may feel some confusion of emotions as we relate to our parents. This is true especially if we have been abused during our childhood and wear the scars of that abuse some visible and invisible.We may have been taught that failing to honor our parents is a sin. This raises some disturbing questions. How can we honor someone whose actions have been anything but honorable? Does this mean that we stay under their control and yield to their manipulations in order to please God? Now this part of life is where careful guidance is essential!Spiritual Insight- (Deuteronomy 5:16) The word Honor comes from a root word meaning "heavy"; it implies fixing weighty value on the relationship. We are to place high value on our parents' role in our lives.This does not mean, however, that they have the right to destroy our lives just because they brought us into the world. Even Jesus said, "I have come to set a man against his father, [and] a daughter against her mother. Your enemies many times will be right in your own household!" (Matthew 10:35-36). Someone reading today has faced this or is facing this situation right now, and the situation is unresolved and you need some answers.As we evaluate our lives, we can honor our parents by realizing the heavy impact they have had on us. We don't have to let them manipulate and abuse us in order to please God. But we can still choose to love them, even though we may need to set up boundaries in the relationship.As one who has both parents transitioned from this life, I have learned: We can best honor our parents by the way we live our lives now. You don't have to be a victim anymore family, you can be the Victor and it can start right now!Today’s message is especially for children, spiritual children, mentees, leaders, parents, spiritual parents, mentors, step children, blended families, teachers, students.Prayer- Gracious Father, I pray today that you will help children and spiritual children to honor, love and show respect to their parents and spiritual parents. I pray that you will teach us how to have good, healthy boundaries in our relationship with them. In Jesus name, Amen.In His Service,Pastor James Baker, Jr.