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.
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.
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?
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.
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
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him
will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also
deny before my Father which is in Heaven.
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
37 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.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.
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
54 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?
55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not His mother
called Mary? and His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then
hath this man all these things?
57 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.
58 And He did not many mighty works there because of their
unbelief.
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.
Child of God Step #3
Be sure to write something in your journal or diary to God.
To complete today's Step, write down the 10 Commandments and read
them every day until you know them by heart.
You can reread this page at any time and as many times as you like.
But please choose not to go on to the next step until tomorrow.
To continue the Child of God program, be sure and bookmark or save
this page so you can return tomorrow and select:
Step #4
And I'll meet you there!
If you have any questions about the program, you can contact us at:
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