Pass it On... well at least most of it!

Every parent who has been a parent for some time realizes some things they've done to help their children grow up to be fine young adults. They also realize some things they haven't done so well with. As a young adult, we sometimes throw out everything we've learned and "do it our way". That's a slap in the face to our parents and really a slap in the face to God who gave us those parents. Regardless of how your parents were we are commanded to treat them with respect.

The Bible says in Exodus 20 verse 12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. " And yet, what if your parents do not honor God in the things they do? On the one hand God commands us to honor them, but on the other hand, we need to obey God rather than man as in Acts 5:28

(Acts 5:28 "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! ")

What a dilemma! Realistically thought, most of us have parents that did something right, whether it be stayed married to one person, or had a good work ethic, etc.

The way I can reconcile this is to take the things that I've learned from my parents, the good things that coincide with God's teachings in the Scripture and continue to follow them. That brings honor to your parents name. The things that do not follow God's commands, well, we follow God. By doing what is right, we also bring honor to our parents because we try to bring honor to God.

Keep the things that are right (plant the seeds in their life) and build on it, I guess you'd say.

That is what I'd like my children to get out of my life. By doing what is right, they honor God and thereby honor me by following the good things my wife and I taught them. My hope is as they go through life, they build on the good parts and pass it on to their children.

The great thing is that as a Christian, even if we don't know why our parents did what they did, God has left a model in His Word, the Bible, for us to follow. It's a standard that surpasses all parents, cultures, economic stations in life, philosophies, etc. It's beyond the "gold standard" it is THE STANDARD of living... you can bet your life on it!