Respect ... the father who raised you ...

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Listen with respect to the father who raised you, and when your mother grows old, don’t neglect her. Buy truth — don’t sell it for love or money; buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight. Parents rejoice when their children turn out well; wise children become proud parents. So make your father happy! Make your mother proud! -Proverbs 23:22-25 MSG

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What is it about the parent-child relationship that seems to transcend life itself? Why does the success or failure of a child impact the parent so much? Is it simply a matter of proximity in our childhood years? Is is societal norms or genetics? What is it that creates such a bond between these familial generations? I suggest to you that it is the idea of love and more specifically love that involves sacrifice - from the day that we are born our parents sacrifice.

This kind of parental sacrificial love is worthy of respect and honor. Yet so many times in life it is maligned and criticized - especially when the child strays from the narrow road. I can remember a parent once telling me that she thought I was the worst parent she knew because my son (who had just lost his mom) got in trouble. People can be so judgmental and we can be made to forget the sacrifices that we have made for our children. Even so, we continue to love.

Today Lord, we remember your call to love, sacrifice, deny ourselves, pick our cross and follow you.

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