The Small Catechism – part 54
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Leviticus 19:3
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Click for a recording of today's lesson.
From the Confessions: The Small Catechism, The Fourth Commandment
Honor your father and your mother, (that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you).
What does this mean?
Answer: We should fear and love God so that we do not show contempt for our parents and others in authority, nor provoke them to anger, but respect, obey, serve, love, and honor them.
Pulling It Together: God’s promise to be a Father to us demonstrates the importance he places on the role of parenting. It is the first commandment on the second tablet — those that focus on our neighbors. It contains a promise, where the other commandments do not. Clearly, this is a very important commandment. As God expects us to honor him as our heavenly Father, he expects and demands that we honor our earthly fathers and mothers too. They are his representatives to us, that we may be brought up well, trained in an orderly and lawful way, honoring and respecting, not only God and parents, but all those in authority.
Prayer: Give me, O Lord, the spirit of obedience, for you are my God. Amen.
Click here for resources to learn the Ten Commandments.
Share this post
Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
Click Here For Content Archives