Mother Knows Best
Proverbs 1:8–9
We live in a generation where parents are undermined. They are seen to have less knowledge and understanding than younger generations because of our growing autonomy and the progressions of this fast paced world. While parents are human beings who can make mistakes, get things wrong and be imperfect, it has never changed that they carry a wisdom we ought to be clinging to. The trinity includes God the Father and God is often compared to motherly and fatherly images in the Bible. In the Ten Commandments, the Word goes further to command us to honour our parents, adding a promise to that and being the only commandment with a promise (Exodus 20:12).
Despite the humanness of parents, God clearly holds to high esteem the role of a parent.
Firstly, parents become the first authority figure a child has in their lives and God commands us to honour our earthly masters because He is the one who ordained them. Paul writes this in Romans 13 and he adds that anyone who rebels against these authorities are ultimately rebelling against God. It’s imperative for us to view parents as literal workers for God. To see them and know that God specifically sent them to govern you. This is meant to stir up respect, affection and loyalty within us towards fathers, mothers and parent-like figures in our lives. We are not ignorant about their flaws because they are human beings just like us, but we view them with a particular distinction as authorities established by God.
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Have you ever been in a situation where you were sure you knew better but soon started to see your decisions bringing out unfavourable results and you could just hear the words of your parent ringing in your head?
In Proverbs 3:1–2, Solomon says “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity”. Similar to God’s guidance, the teaching of a parent is not just authoritative but also beneficial. It’s easy to see protection, love and care as restriction, ignorance and disregard. God cares so much about us. Not all of us as His children but you as His child. Not part of a group but as an individual. He delights in you, your interests, your safety and your development in all aspects. Parents aren’t God but I believe that God is constantly compared to parental images for us to empathise with our parents as well, because if we can soften ourselves to the love of God and realise He is not just a ruler with no heart seeking out His own agendas, we can see the same in our parents. Not to dread their guidance, restrictions and discipline, but to embrace them as people who truly and wholeheartedly care about us.
Honouring our parents and embracing their wisdom is so important to God because the more we learn, the more we are exposed to and the older we get, we are gaining wisdom too. God is refining us continuously and that is something that can easily puff one up and steal your humility.
Why is this a threat? Because if we lack humility, we are unable to humble ourselves before the Lord.
2 Timothy gives us a terrible warning in chapter 3, describing how people will behave during the end times and this chapter is scary because these are exactly the things we are seeing today. In verse 2, it says people will be “disobedient to their parents”. And this isn’t mentioned in isolation. It is mentioned with all the other behaviours Paul highlights in this section. Lovers of themselves and money, boastful, proud, abusive, ungrateful, unholy, without love, without self-control, unforgiving, NOT LOVERS OF GOOD…and the list goes on. This is not just happening with non-believers; it is happening to people who have met Jesus Christ too. All this can be birthed by simply losing honour for your mother or father. These behaviours and characteristics can easily come out of looking at your parents with contempt. God’s will is good and perfect (Romans 2:2) and it is His will that we honour our parents and take heed of their instructions (Proverbs 4:10) as a God that wants to protects us, love us and see us shine in His glory.
It is not simply an order to do whatever your parents want whether you like it or not but to develop a posture of heart that holds them in great regard.
That said, parents aren’t perfect people. They are people. Some parents might even have a negative impact on their children altogether but as God commands us, there are no conditions to the type of parents we have or the behaviours they have. The instruction is clear — honour them. There comes a point where you come into relationship with Jesus and you have to know and trust that He isn’t ignorant to your circumstances or your parent’s flaws. That gives us a platform to deepen our faith in God, to move in ways that are difficult for you but moving nonetheless because of your intimacy with Him.
