Am I Honouring My Parents?
(Exod 20:12)

Speaker: Rev Dennis Kwok
Date: 15 Apr 2018

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Sermon notes taken by:

Mrs Joanna Hung

Exodus 20:12 is the fifth of the ten commandments that God gave to the children of Israel. The root meaning of the word “honour” is weight or heaviness. It also has a sense of glory, to have high respect and a great value. This high esteem for a person will result in love, care and obedience to him. The Bible instructs us that we are to honour our father and mother. Parental authority comes from God and it is the first authority that a child receives when he is born. Our relationship with our parents is the first relationship we experience in life.

Ephesians 6:1-3 tells us that this fifth commandment to honour our father and mother is also the first commandment with promise. Exodus 21:15 tells us that death is the punishment for the children of Israel when they disobey their parents. Proverbs 20:20 and Proverbs 30:17 also warn us not to disregard our parents but to give them due respect and honour. They are God’s representatives to direct us in life.


Parents are given the responsibility to care and provide for their children. Deuteronomy 21:18-21 instructs parents to faithfully teach their children to obey them in the Lord so that they can continue to be a holy witness of the Lord.

We are to submit to our parents with a loving spirit. God has given us instructions in the Bible on how to love and honour our parents. How we love our parents will reveal how we love God.

This fifth commandment also extends to people who may not be our parents but who are above us in authority. In church, we are to regard the older men as fathers and the older women as mothers. We are to give them the same respect that we give to our own parents. May God help us to honour our parents in the Lord.



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