So I absolutely love my job. And I am honored to be able to share an email once a week to every other week with some amazing leaders.

Today I feel led to share one of the emails I had sent to them awhile ago.

I hope you get something from it!

Julie

FAMILY

The 5th Commandment is the first commandment that relates to humans. The first four are and are toward God but the next six are directed toward others.

Family is the foundation of any nation and people and we see when the institution of the family starts to crumble, so does the foundation of the nation!

The 5th Commandment is the only one with a promise…the promise of a long life for the children that honor their father and their mother.

 Exodus 20:12 says “Honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

God doesn’t say honor your parents if they are good parents, if they are always right or if they are always obedient to God.

There are no conditions given by which you are to not honor your parents.

God simply says to honor them.

God knows that they are not perfect but neither are children. (That means us. 🙂 )

 This commandment also doesn’t give a time limit to which it expires and so this means to honor them when you are grown and you have a family of your own.

Honor them when they are frail and feeble.

Honor them if they have to move into an assisted living center.

There is no time limit for honoring them and so even after they are dead, when we speak evil of them, we are not honoring our parents.

God will not hold to His promise that “you may live long.”…That’s something to think about…

 Joshua 24:15 “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua made this statement to Israel after Moses was gone. His household “will serve the LORD.” When a family determines to serve the Lord, the Lord is determined to be a part of that family. Families are stronger when the Lord is being considered before making decisions. This includes what movies to watch, what’s on TV, the Internet, in magazines, and whatever other media infiltrates the home. When the Lord is honored things will go well with that family.

Like Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

When that third cord is God, then families are stronger and can withstand many of the storms of life.

Pray for God to help you “honor your father and mother” regardless of the relationship.

Pray God helps you see how He needs to be the third cord in all areas of your relationships.

Pray for God to help your ministry serve the Lord.

Pray for God to help any discord in your ministry family.

Pray for God to help you model honor and respect in all areas of your ministry.

Pray you remember these verses as you talk to people in your ministries that might need to hear it.