"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother,' which is the first commandment with a promise, 'so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.'" – Ephesians 6:1-3 (MEV)
It's sadly a common sight to see kids disrespecting and dishonouring their parents today. We see young kids doing all sorts of things kids in earlier decades even dreaded of thinking. In my neighbourhood alone, I've seen many spoiled kids who act as if their parents are at their beck and call.
This isn't how it should be. God wants all children to be trained in the way they should be—the way of Godliness, righteousness, and holiness. While we can discipline our kids by giving them rewards when they do good and spank them when they do something unpleasant, the truth is that how the kids will grow up depends greatly on their parents.
So before I proceed further, let's answer that question in the title above. Is it ever OK for a Christian kid to dishonour their parents? Simply put, no.
What God wants for kids
God wants all children to be like Christ who, at the age of 12, already possessed such wisdom coming from the Word of God (Luke 2:41-48). Yet, despite knowing that the Father's business was His, He went home and stayed obedient to His earthly parents, and didn't even try to force His way into being a childhood hero (Luke 2:48-52).
Yes, Mary and Joseph probably were good parents. We don't read of any account on how they conducted themselves as parents. But regardless of this, we see the young Jesus living in obedience to them.
"Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them..." (Luke 2:51)
Honouring parents
Dear reader, many kids are disrespecting their parents today. We now live in the time when "men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, [and] unholy" (see 2 Timothy 3:2). We live in a time where many are disregarding the rights of others in their pursuit of pleasure.
Yet, all hope is not lost. We can train our young ones in the right way, so that they won't dishonour us. We don't do this by threatening them. Rather, we do this by being good models to them.
"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)
If you are a parent, don't give your child a reason to do something that dishonours you. It is never OK for a Christian child to dishonour his parents, no matter how dishonourable they are. This is because God is our ultimate Father, who deserves to be honoured by us in all that we think, say, and do.
