Welcome to our Christianity Oasis Child of God study program. This is our Respect Your Elders Bible study. The truth within this SON-derful Respect Your Elders Bible study will truly enhance your be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.
Click the link below if you would like to read this study from the beginning. |
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CHILD OF GOD
STEP 3
RESPECTING YOUR ELDERS
Welcome
back wonderful young people!
Today we have another important thing to talk about. Respecting your
elders is something that many young people don't believe in these days,
and it's a shame because the Bible says it's the right thing to do.
A
lot of young people think it's cool to disrespect their elders,
including their parents. They do it for different reasons ...
They're angry, they didn't get their way, they think it will impress
other people, it gives them a feeling of power, they want attention ...
It
could be any of these reasons, or maybe even other reasons.
Let's
talk about parents first. Why should a person respect their
parents? Well the first reason is because God said so. The 5th
Commandment says:
Exodus 20:12
Honour thy father
and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which
the LORD thy God giveth thee.
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Honor
your dad and mom and you will live a long life. Pretty cool, huh?
Exodus
21:17
And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be
put to death.
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Wow,
listen to this!
Back in Moses' day, children who cursed their parents were put to death!
Now, of course, we don't live in the times of the Old Testament any
longer, but God said that He would put the laws in our hearts. That
means that as Christians, we WANT to follow God's laws, not out of fear
or obligation, but out of love from our hearts.
It's
true, we're all God's children, and that God gave us to our parents
until we become adults. He trusts our parents with our lives until the time
when we can take care of ourselves and we're old enough to carry on the
responsibilities of life. If it wasn't necessary, do you think God would
have given us parents?
Who
are you going to listen to ... The world, that says parents don't
deserve respect ... or God, who says, Honor thy father and mother?
When you honor your parents, you're not only being obedient to them, but
also to God.
Colossians
3:20
Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well
pleasing unto the Lord. |
Obey your parents because it makes the Lord happy.
God
doesn't want you to respect your parents just because He said so or
because you're afraid you'll get in trouble if you don't. God wants you to
respect and love them from your heart, because your parents love you,
and they want the best for you.
Why
do you think God gave us the commandment to honor our parents? There are
times when you don't agree with them, but God tells you to honor them
anyway. It is preparing you for the world. Once you move away from your
parents, they won't always be around to help you do the right thing and
make the right choices.Listening to your parents will prepare you for dealing with all other people in
authority over you. Teachers, pastors, employers, law enforcement
officers, etc. You'll have people who are above you in one way or
another for the rest of your life, and if you learn how to accept their
authority early in your life, you'll find that you will be a happier
person. Of course, if anyone ever abuses their authority, God doesn't
expect you to honor or respect them.
Now
let's talk a little bit about respecting other elders in your life.
First of all, who are your elders?
Godly people who are older than you are your elders.
To honor someone means to think of another person as more important than
yourself. At times you may not feel that
your elders are more important, but when you obey someone you
disagree with, you teach yourself humility.
What
does that mean? Humility means the opposite of being conceited. Another
word for that is to be humble. Jesus was very humble.
You
can show respect and honor in many different ways. The tone of voice you
use shows your respect or your lack of it. Many people use sarcastic,
sassy or disrespectful voices to express themselves. There are other
ways to express yourself if you disagree or feel your opinion should be
known. Jesus was angered, and upset, and disagreed with many things that
people did, and even though He had the right, He rarely lost His temper or
used disrespect to anyone in His voice. He found a graceful way to
express His feelings.
Luke
4:22
And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words
which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this
Joseph's son?
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Everybody saw and heard, and they were amazed at how kind and
gentle Jesus spoke. If young people used the qualities of Jesus in them
to speak with respect to their elders instead of the energy that most
use to be disrespectful, think of how much better adults and young
people would get along.
When
you speak to adults, look them in the eye. When a person feels that
you're truly interested in what they have to say to you, things always
turn out for the better.
Slouching
or sighing heavily when someone is talking to you shows them that you
don't care about what they have to say. There are many other ways to
show respect to your elders. Letting an older person go first shows
respect and honor. Saying, Excuse me, Please, Thank you and I'm
sorry, are signs of respect. Responding to questions with yes or no
instead of "yeah" and "huh uh" shows not only your
respect, but also your maturity and interest in getting along with
others. Courtesy and being polite help you grow in patience, which will
help you with many things throughout your lifetime with all kinds of
people. We'll talk about patience more later in our program.
Don't
forget the golden rule that Jesus taught:
Matthew
7:12
Therefore all things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them: for this is the law and the prophets.
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Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. This goes for
your parents too. If you treat them with respect, they will trust you
more and treat you better.
I'd
like to tell you something else very honestly ... Many of your friends
may not respect you for respecting adults because the world has taught
them differently. But YOU know that Jesus said it's the right
thing to do. By showing respect to your elders, you're honoring
Jesus, and don't forget:
It's
a shame game.
What
does that mean? It means, don't be ashamed to stand up for your beliefs.
Matthew
10:32-33
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I
confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever
shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father
which is in Heaven.
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Jesus
said that if you're ashamed to be like Him
or defend your belief in Him, He will be ashamed of you in front of God.
I'd like to repeat myself for just a moment. Most of the time disrespect
comes from selfishness, because people don't want to do what someone
else asks or tells them to do ... They just want their own way.
Jesus said:
Matthew
22:37-39
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is
the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
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Love God
with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your
neighbor, as yourself ... So we should want to carry out our elders
wishes, as much as our own. By showing respect for others, you're
showing respect and love for Jesus, God's people, and for yourself.
One
final thing ... You may know somebody who doesn't get along with their
parents and they probably don't respect any of their elders either,
because of one reason or another. Many times adults find it hard to
treat young people with respect if they aren't receiving any, but
somebody has to make the first move in bringing respect back to all. If
you know someone who is going through this, remember what we talked
about in Step 2 about being a good friend, and how we should encourage
one another to be like Jesus in everything we do.
Don't get discouraged if people
act like you're weird for suggesting that they do the right thing ...
Remember, even the folks from Jesus' own home town didn't believe He was
the Messiah, or that He had the wisdom that He taught.
"Isn't that Mary and Joseph's kid?" they said. "Hmmmmm. He can't possibly be anybody important."
Matthew
13:54-58
And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in
their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said,
Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not
this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his
brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his
sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all
these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto
them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country,
and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there
because of their unbelief.
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When
Jesus went to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue (Jewish
temple) with such wisdom that they were surprised, and they asked, How did
He learn this wisdom, and how does He do these miracles? Isn't this the
son of the carpenter and His mother's name Mary? And don't all His
brothers and sisters live here? So how can this man know and do all
these things? And they acted insulted by Him, but Jesus said to them, A
prophet is honored everywhere except his own country or by his own
family. Jesus didn't do many miracles there because they didn't have
Faith.
STEP 3
Be sure to
write something in your journal or diary to God.
Write down the 10 Commandments and read
them every day until you know them by heart.
To continue the CHILD OF GOD program,
you can return tomorrow and select:
STEP #4
And I'll meet you there!
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have any questions about the program ...
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