\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Exodus 20:12 is said to be the first commandment with promise.\u00a0 It says, “Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God hath given thee.”\u00a0 We would say, honor your father and mother so you can enjoy a long life.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes honoring our parents or grandparents can be a difficult thing.\u00a0 So many children are raised in incredibly dysfunctional homes.\u00a0 Some are abused, (both physically and emotionally)\u00a0neglected, sexually assaulted or even tortured by the ones who brought them into this world.\u00a0 How do you honor someone like that?<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was raised in one of those homes.\u00a0 My father was an alcoholic and my mother was too co-dependant to protect us.\u00a0\u00a0 The emotional and mental abuse was terrible.\u00a0 The physical abuse,\u00a0 not so bad.\u00a0 I grew up feeling like I was a worthless, stupid girl because I heard that many times every day.\u00a0 When you hear a lie often enough, to you it becomes the truth.\u00a0 Everything bad that ever happened in our house was somehow my fault.\u00a0 I was the youngest of five children and a sickly child to0.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It has taken years of inner healing and counseling to be able to talk freely about my childhood.\u00a0 In fact this is the very first time I have mentioned it publically.\u00a0 There are still days that I have to look in the mirror and quote God’s word in order to believe the truth about myself.\u00a0\u00a0 Father God speaks much differently than my earthy father did.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks be to God that I found Jesus at seventeen years old.\u00a0 He has restored my life and enabled me to still honor my parents.\u00a0\u00a0 I know they loved me on some level and I know they thought they were doing the best they could.\u00a0 Maybe that was their best without the knowledge of Jesus.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At any rate, I honor them for who they are.\u00a0 God could have placed me in any family ; but He chose this one.\u00a0 I respect them for always providing for me.\u00a0 I never went hungry and I never was without clothing.\u00a0 In fact Mom made most of my clothes and they looked better than store bought ones.\u00a0 She could look at a catalogue, take her old pattern pieces and make the dress or blouse just like the\u00a0one the picture.\u00a0 She was a great cook and always ready to help the needy.\u00a0 She really was a good person and later in life became a Christian.\u00a0 She simply didn’t know basic parenting skills.\u00a0 Her parents died when she was young and she was raised by a sister and her alcoholic husband.\u00a0 Need I say more in her defense?<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Whenever my dad was at his job or socializing, people loved him.\u00a0 They would have never recognized that man that I lived with.\u00a0 Still, he had some good qualities as well.\u00a0 He was a good provider.\u00a0 He wouldn’t let anyone else hurt us.\u00a0 He did his drinking at home, thus sparing us much public embarrassment. \u00a0He took us to the beach a few times.\u00a0 He also took us\u00a0on one big family vacation to visit relatives in New Mexico.\u00a0\u00a0 I do have a few good memories of him, so, I can honor and respect him for some things.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At some point, if we desire to be all we can for Jesus, we must forgive our parents for their mistakes and cruelty and learn to respect and honor them for their good qualities.\u00a0 Only Jesus can show you how to do this and only He can give you the grace to walk in the truth of who you are.\u00a0 I won’t tell you it is easy, but it is possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Exodus 20:12 is said to be the first commandment with promise.\u00a0 It says, “Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God hath given thee.”\u00a0 We would say, honor your father and mother so you can enjoy a long life. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes honoring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[29,7,28],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","tag-family","tag-testimony","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"\n