The Bible is very clear about honoring our fathers and mothers! Because of the authority of their positions, God requires them to give respect and reverence. Authority is God’s hand at work. He leads, directs and speaks to us through our authorities. Therefore it is never right to rail against a God ordained authority. Are all authorities godly? No!!! But their position is of God and He makes them our ministers. Paul was being accused unjustly by a high priest, but he did not know he was the high priest. Paul spoke harshly to him and when he realized his authority, Paul apologized for his disrespect.
And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest ? Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest : for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
Acts 23:1-5
It is never right to have a disrespectable attitude toward an authority. Their actions do not justify us to act just like them when they are wrong. We are to overcome evil with good!
When Jerry and I married, he had not seen his father since he was very small. The last time he remembered speaking to his father, he ased him for a nickel to buy an ice cream and his father knocked him off the porch. Jerry hated his father. He hated the mention of his name and he became angry when anyone would say he looked like his father. Jerry’s father had never left a memory with Jerry that would make him want to love and show respect for his life. Now there are always two sides to every story and there is a good and a bad side to every one. The mother can always see the good in her children regardless how they are acting at the moment. But sometimes we only get the rough side of a person.
Jerry’s hatred for his father affected our home. You cannot love and hate at the same time! While Jerry was not mad at me or the children, his anger put thorns on his character and we seem to always be getting stuck with them. We were in our early 20’s, with two small children, when I began to try and talk Jerry into going to see his father. I thought maybe his hatred would turn to compassion, if he were around him. Seeing his father was the hardest thing he ever did. He almost turned around two or three times before we got to the place where his father was. He was also concerned that his mother would be hurt if he went to see his father, and Jerry was very careful to never go against his mother.
Well, he did see his father, and it did turn to compassion instead of hatred, but it was a work that God had to work in Jerry. His father wept when he saw Jerry and it seemed to mean so much to him that Jerry would come see him, but as we talked with him, he only spoke of himself and never ask questions about Jerry’s life. He was a very selfish man. Did he deserve to have his son showing concern for his life? No! But we are not to respond to others as to what they deserve, but as to what God has commanded us. It blessed Jerry’s life to invest a little in his father’s life. Jerry could then live without that hatred that was so troubling his life. He was fulfilling God’s command by honoring his father and his life and our sons lives began to grow very close together.
My father was the apple of my eye. I didn’t have to learn to forgive my father, but I had to learn to put my father’s life aside for my husband’s sake. My father was a super hero in my eyes, and Jerry was an equal in my eyes. Keeping your mate as an equal will not work!!! I fought giving to Jerry the honor his position required. Feeling equal, I couldn’t understand why he should have more control in our lives than I did. God doesn’t tell us we have to understand it, but He does tell us we must do it! Understanding makes it easier, but until you understand, just do it! Jerry’s authority in our home has nothing to do with his abilities. It has everything to do with his position in the family. My responsibilities have nothing to do with my abilities. I am to do what I do because God ordained it that way. In other words, we cannot do it our way and still please the Lord. We may seem to get away with it, but the truth is, it is like a boomerang. It will return upon our heads!
What I am trying to say is, this is the month of Father’s Day and we need to give our fathers the honor they deserve, because of where they sit in our homes. Some of you will find that very easy, because the fathers in your life are godly and make you want to honor them. Others, it will not be so easy.
If the head of your home has not exhibited godliness to you and the family, he needs your love and honor more than others. You do not honor ungodliness, you honor his place as the minister of God in the home. God still speaks and leads through their position.
How serious is it to our lives if we choose not to honor our parents? The Scripture tells us that God will put our lights out!!! That’s serious. Years ago I was blind for three days and I will tell you it is very scary to not be able to see what is around you. You do not want God to put your lights out.
Give the men in your life the honor that God has placed upon them. Make this the best Father’s day of there lives. Forget about the failures of life. They can be dealt with one by one. Tell that father you are going to honor and love his life. Tell him you are going to trust God with his position in your life. When he knows that you are looking to God, and not him, he will feel the responsibility of his calling upon his shoulders. When I, by faith, turned over the leadership of our home to Jerry’s position, it scared him to death. He told me years later that it placed a heavy burden on him that he could not get away from. He knew he had to get close to the Lord if he was going to be able to lead our home. My husband began to grow in wisdom and knowledge overnight. God was waiting for me to take my proper place before He put the burden upon Jerry.
If you have not been honoring your father and husband with godly honor, Father’s Day is a good day to start. Don’t say empty words!!! Mean what you say and say it with all your heart. Your father or husband is an ordained minister of God, commissioned to provide and protect your life.
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power ? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:1-4