ADRIAN, MI – Dads are special. I have great memories of my dad. He was a steel mill worker who worked the swing shift. He worked hard, but seemed to take a lot of time with four kids. Every summer he would take his vacation, and we would go to Smoky Mountains or Florida and have a great time.
But something happened when I became teenager. I thought I knew more than my dad. It’s not that I didn’t love him anymore. I just didn’t see the value of my dad in my life. I seldom took his advice, and I bristled against his correction. But now that I’m older, I realize the wisdom in honoring my dad.
Throughout the Bible we are commanded to “Honor your parents” (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Matthew 15:4; Matthew 19:19; Mark 7:10; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; Ephesians 6:2). So, I want to share with you three reasons it is important to ‘honor your father.’
1. Honor your dad because he knows more than you.
Your dad knows some things just by the process of living. Children, youth, and young adults can share in this accumulated knowledge and wisdom.
Do you think you will know more in 25 years than you do now? Regardless of your age, if your father is still around, he has already been your age and knows the results of the path you are choosing. You can learn a lot from his successes and mistakes.
2. Honor your dad because disobedience is dangerous.
A father is often the first authority God places in our life. God gives authority figures to guide and discipline us. They guide us into a blessed life and discipline us away from danger. If we do not learn to respond appropriately to dad’s authority, we will not likely respond well to other authority figures in our lives, even to God’s authority.
3. Honor your dad because it makes it easier to honor your Heavenly Father.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:2 that the command to honor your parents comes with a promise of blessing. Why is there a special blessing to this commandment? Because our earthly parents are our first glimpses of God. The way we respond to our parents will dictate our response to our eternal Father throughout our entire life.
Hall of Fame Dad
One of my favorite stories is about the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1993, workers were cleaning behind a display cabinet and found an old photograph. It was a stocky man in a baseball uniform with the words ‘Sinclair Oil” on the shirt.
Stapled on the picture was a note that read, “You were never too tired to play ball. On your days off, you helped build the Little League field. You always came to watch me play. You were a Hall of Fame dad. I wish I could share this moment with you.”
After some research, they found the man who put it there. it seems the ballplayer in the photo was his late father. He was proud of his dad. so he decided to honor his father by holding his own little ceremony to induct his dad into the Hall of Fame.
I hope you will be the kind of father (or mother) whose children honor you, and I hope you will be the kind of person who will ‘honor your father.’ You can still do that, even if your father has passed away.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Greg Burdine has been senior pastor of Faith Baptist Church since 1994. He has been married since 1981 to Judy, a preschool teacher in Tecumseh. They have four children. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri and his Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Louisiana Baptist University in Shreveport, Louisiana. He has been in full-time ministry since 1982, serving churches in Iowa, Ohio, and Michigan. He likes to read, run, and play with his grandchildren.