Dear Girls,
Happy New Year! May this newsletter (attached as a pdf id071-glorifying-god-by-honouring-parents.pdf) assist you as you think back over 2007 and make resolutions for 2008 and beyond!
Regards,
Genevieve
Monday, 31 December 2007
Dear Girls,
How to Glorify God by Honouring Parents
Last week I shared with you how the Lord has been teaching me about being submissive. One of the best tools He brought my way was a book called, As Unto the Lord: a Tool for Wives Who Want to Glorify God. I shared about this book in the last newsletter. This week I want to share with you some of the questions in this book. The book asks questions to wives about their relationship with their husbands. I will change the questions slightly so they are directed to daughters regarding their relationship with their parents.
May I suggest that you read through them during your quiet time? Get off someplace by yourself where it is quiet, and you can sit and meditate on the questions without disruption. Use the questions to help you search your heart so the Lord can reveal to you areas you need to change, patterns of behaviour you need to correct and new habits you need to put into place.
The honour which I owe to my parents is all due reverence in heart:
Is my goal in my family to please God or to please my parents?Do I daily study the Bible, seeking to understand God’s Word and His will for my life? Does God’s Word govern my relationship with my parents?Do I acknowledge and humbly rest in the fact that God, in His loving sovereignty, has placed my parents over me?Do I trust God to lead me through my parents, working ALL things out for my good?
The honour which I owe to my parents is all due reverence in word: Do the words I speak to my parents reflect a quiet trust in God as the sovereign Controller of all that takes place in my life?Do I speak to my parents with a respectful tone of voice?In all the words that I speak to my parents, is my purpose to humbly serve them, to build them up and to be a minister of God’s grace in their life?Do I keep my word with my parents? Do I honour the promises and commitments that I have made?
Am I willing to wait for the right time and place to prayerfully discuss differences with my parents?
After respectfully appealing to my parents, do I quietly and peacefully accept their final decisions and actions, even when I disagree with them?
The honour which I owe to my parents is all due reverence in behaviour: Do I do what I know my parents would want me to do, even when they are not with me, or when they have not clearly specified their wishes in a particular situation?Do my facial expressions and gestures show honour toward my parents?Do I treat my parents the same way at home as I do in public? The honour which I owe to my parents is prayer for my parents: Do I earnestly pray for my father’s spiritual growth and wisdom as he leads our family?Do I pray for my parents when I know they are going through times of testing and hardship?When my parents are in sin or when I believe they are making an unwise decision, do I humbly entreat them and then earnestly, patiently and quietly pray for God to lead them?Do I pray for my parents when they have offended me, or do I criticize and harbour bitterness?
The honour which I owe to my parents is thanksgiving for my parents: Do I trust God with my life? Do I thank Him for all circumstances, knowing that HE knows what is best for me?Do I thank God for my parents and for what He is doing in my life through my parents?Do I in any way imply that my parents are to blame for any of the areas in which I am discontent?Do I remember that when I murmur against my parents, I am really murmuring against my loving and sovereign Lord?
Do I compare my parents and circumstances unfavourably with those of others?
Do I verbally express my thankfulness to my parents for the good that they do?
Do I avoid conversations, friendships, reading material, TV programmes, etc., that would lead me to be discontent with my parents? Do I actively pursue those things which encourage contentedness and faithfulness?
The honour which I owe to my parents is willing obedience to my parents’ lawful commands: Do I carefully listen to what my parents say so that I will be able to carry out their instructions?Do I honour and obey my parents’ leadership cheerfully and without resisting, arguing, grumbling or pouting?Do I accept their decisions and follow their leadership with a willing and cheerful attitude, even when I disagree with them?Do I seek to surrender my will to my parents in the same way that Jesus submitted to His Father’s will?
Do I set an example before my siblings of proper submission to the authority of my parents? Would they consider me an obedient and respectful daughter?
Do I believe that my parents’ sins or imperfections somehow excuse me from respectfully submitting to their lawful commands?
Do I confess my sin and ask forgiveness when I have not been submissive to my parents’ leadership?
The honour which I owe to my parents is due submission to my parents’ corrections: Do I recognize that God has given my parents the responsibility to guard and lead me spiritually and to help me recognize and repent of sin in my life?Am I thankful for the wisdom that I can gain from my parents’ insights and understanding of my character?Do I recognise that God will use my parents’ actions and words, even if they are unbelievers or immature Christians, to bring me to greater maturity and conformity to Christ’s image?Do I encourage my parents to correct me when they see sin in my life?
Do I respond with love and humility to my parents’ criticisms or corrections?
My sin against my parents is contempt of my parents’ person and place: Do I seek to find fault in my parents and their activities?Has my sinful pride led me to set myself up as my parents’ judge?Do I speak evil of my parents, to them or to others?Is my heart bitter and resentful towards my parents?
Am I seeking to avenge myself of the wrongs my parents have allegedly committed against me?
Have I grown to despise my parents?
Am I responding to the Holy Spirit and to God’s Word which call me to repent and turn from my sinful attitude of contempt towards my parents and their leadership?
My sin against my parents is refractory and scandalous carriage that proves a shame and dishonour to my parents and their government: Do I refuse to follow or cooperate with my father as he leads my family?Do I openly ignore or resist my parents’ efforts to lead me?Do I knowingly, and even spitefully, go against my parents’ wishes and standards?Do I say or do things in public that shame my parents?
Do I refuse to yield to my parents when I disagree with them?
Am I unwilling to yield to my parents, even when I know they are right?
Has my laziness and negligence brought public shame and dishonour to my parents and our family?
Have my shameful attitudes and actions hindered my parents in their responsibilities and goals?
Has my pride brought shame, disappointment and embarrassment to my parents?
Has shame come to our household as a result of my refusal to accept the instruction of God’s Word and His leading as directed through my parents?
Have my actions brought dishonour to God’s name?
Do I recognise my sin and rebellion, and am I willing to humble myself, confess my sin to God and to my parents and repent?
Do these questions resonate with you? May I encourage you to get the book
As Unto the Lord by Pam Forster and read through all the questions in it. Each question comes with multiple Scripture verses which help us understand what the Biblical standard is in regards to our behaviour and how we ought to live.Many thanks to Doorposts, the publisher, for permission to quote from
As Unto the Lord.You can order
As Unto the Lord by emailing Doorposts Publishing at orders@doorposts.net or by visiting their website www.doorposts.net or by calling (888) 433-4749 (in the USA). I am sure that they could tell people in Australia or New Zealand or wherever who the distributors are for their products in those respective countries so that you can possibly acquire the books quicker and cheaper.For the Greater Glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Genevieve Smith
Issacharian Daughter