01 Feb I [Heart] U, Mum & Dad! – Feb 13

By Diana Turnip

Q: What are my responsibilities in the family that God has given to me?

A:

Firstly, check out these three father and son relationship scenarios below.

Scenario 1:

“STEPHEN.” “Yes, Dad!” “You get upstairs right now.”

Whooom! He would get upstairs.

Do you think he obeyed me because he loved me? Are you kidding? He obeyed me because he was scared of getting a spanking.

Scenario 2:

“Stephen, you cleaned up your room!”

“Yeah, Dad, I just thought I would do what you wanted me to do.”

About ten minutes later he would say,

“By the way, have you got an extra $20? I am going out with my friends tonight!”

Wait a minute! Why is he obeying me? Because he loves me? No, because he wants $20. That is why he did what he did. I wasn’t born yesterday. I tried the same thing with my Dad.

Scenario 3:

One thing that just blesses me is when I come home and Stephen has done something. I say,

“Stephen, I appreciate that. Why did you do that?”

Stephen answers

“I just love you, Dad.”

Whew! I would give him anything he wants.

Can you relate to one of the scenarios above?  Hopefully that you can relate more to scenario number 3 that you love you parents not because you afraid of them. Or, you love your parents because you wanted something from them. However, hopefully you love them because you honor and respect them.

Behind the action is an attitude. It is one thing to obey. It is another thing the way you obey. The real way to obey is out of love and respect, out of honor. Now I want to tell you something, when you do that for your parents, you haven’t got a clue how much that is going to minister to your parents. You don’t realize how much they are going to love you in return. So, our responsibilities in the family that God has given to me are to honor your Father and Mother, which is the first commandment with a promise (Ephesians 6:2).

1 ultimate point:

honor your Father and Mother

3 main highlights:

• Why is he obeying me? Because he loves me?
• Behind the action is an attitude.
• honor your Father and Mother

Pictures ideas:

3 pictures for the 3 scenarios:

–                                                                                                          afraid of spanking

–                                                                                                          conditional love, because wanting something

–                                                                                                          unconditional love, just because love the parents