Religious Education

God's Fifth Commandment

Grow in gratitude for your God-given guardians.

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Family altar

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2 min read

As we busy ourselves with Senior Members' Day preparations, let us try to spare a few moments of our time to reflect on our reasons why.

“Honour your father and your mother,

that your days may be long upon the land

which the Lord your God is giving you."

(Exodus 20:12)

Babies are cute and make us smile. We want to take care of them and keep them safe. But, sometimes, we forget that older people, like our parents and grandparents, need as much love and care.

God gave us a special command: to honour our parents. Honouring our parents means showing them love, respect, and listening to them. God promises that if we fully obey this command, we will have long and happy lives.

Jesus too made sure to show how important this command is in His teachings about how to live a good life (see Matthew 19:16–19).

Why does God have to command us to honour our parents? Because sometimes, it really is hard. We have to purposefully choose to be loving and respectful, even when it’s not easy.

Our parents might not always understand the things we like - video games, social media, texting; they cannot understand us completely. As they get older, they might need more help than they know to ask for. Their questions might surprise us - relying on us for things we used to rely on them for.

Being part of our ageing parents' journeys can get frustrating. Nevertheless, we must keep this close in our hearts and minds - before birth, right from the beginning, our parents gave up a lot so they would never give up caring for us.

When we treasure and show how much we love our parents - support them, spend time with them, treat them kindly, especially when they do not ask for us, we are carrying out an important part of God's will. God sees and knows and will bless us and our families for it.

Family Altar

Use these discussion questions and our prayer as a guide for your family altar.

Parents can lead the prayer and invite their children to repeat after them or encourage their children to take the lead, making family altar time a shared journey of faith.


Discussion Questions:

  • How much do your parents mean to you?

  • What does "honouring your parents" mean to you?

  • What makes it hard to honour or help your parents, and what can you do to make it easier?

Prayer in Words:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray.

Thank You, Lord, for providing us with parents who love us and strive to love us as well as You do.

Remind us, Lord, everyday, of all the ways we can return our parents' love,

And glorify Your name as we do so.

Hallelujah, Amen.

See Also

Jonah Chapter 3 - The Generous Mercy of God

Jonah Chapter 3 - The Generous Mercy of God

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:3-4). Jonah Chapter 3 records a classic example of this exact sentiment. It records the story of prophet Jonah preaching to the people of Nineveh, and the repentance of Nineveh. When looking at the story of Nineveh’s repentance, there is a sense of comfort that we can find for ourselves. Just as God forgave the people of Nineveh when they were sincerely repentant, we also have confidence that God has the mercy to forgive us for our sins today if we repent with a sincere heart. We however should not grow complacent just because we think God will be merciful with us. Within this chapter, we see the lengths that the people went to in order to seek forgiveness from God. First, verse 6 records that the king himself mourned in sackcloth and sat in ashes. Verse 7 to 9 then record the decree made by the king, mandating fasting and mourning for all his people, driving them all to repentance before God. Take a moment to reflect on this, is this the state we want to reach before we finally turn to God? Although the people of Nineveh were ultimately spared, let us not be deceived, it was a sorry state that they were in. Furthermore, the Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:26 that “if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins”. God’s love abounds and His mercy is plentiful, but let us be careful never to take advantage of this love and mercy. Jonah’s story also teaches us about how we should treat others who we ourselves may deem as sinful. The narrative of the Book of Jonah centers around Jonah refusing to preach to Nineveh due to his hatred for the city and his skepticism that its people would change. When we read the story of Jonah, we are quick to say that Jonah’s attitude was not right. However, when we look at our peers around us, do we also unknowingly adopt Jonah’s mindset? Are we quick to judge people? To fit them into certain labels and refrain from helping them in their faith? Something we must remember is that God desires all men to be saved. Every soul is precious in the sight of God. If this is the case, as servants of God, we must fulfill his will and try to save every soul regardless of our perception of them. All in all, we have received this gift of love and mercy from God. We ought to share this wonderful gift with others.

Good Comparison, Or Bad Comparison?

Good Comparison, Or Bad Comparison?

It is human nature to compare ourselves with others. Whether it is with our friends, our family, or even people who we see on the internet. Some may argue that comparison is good because it allows us to see our weaknesses and motivates us to improve ourselves. However, oftentimes comparison stems from our own pride and can lead us to feel discontented, resentful towards others and towards God. We can learn the difference between good and bad comparisons through the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14. In the parable, we can look into the comparisons each character made. The Pharisee compared himself to the tax collector. He measured his good works against the tax collector’s lack of such. And he really did do many good works! Not many of us are able to fast twice a week on our own accord. But because of this he grew to be self-righteous and despised others (Luke 18:11). On the other hand, the tax collector compared himself to God. Just as how even the smallest speck of dust is revealed when put under light, measuring himself against the standard of God highlighted his many sins. But because of this he was humble and sincerely repented for his sins (Luke 18:13). We should not compare ourselves with others. When we compare ourselves with others, our underlying intention is that we hope to feel better about ourselves. Exalting ourselves above others. To which Jesus actually notes in Matthew 23:12, that our comparing has the adverse effect of lowering ourselves for “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled”. Paul also reminds that such comparisons are unwise (2 Corinthians 10:12). Our comparisons should be done against the standard of God. In doing so, it is like putting a white garment under bright light to examine whether it is spotless. It may feel counter intuitive. Because such comparisons won’t bring out feelings of self-confidence or pride. Instead, just like the tax collector, we are likely to feel unworthy of God and disheartened when we realise the multitude of our sins. This uncomfortable feeling is part of the process of being humbled. And how we react to that process will determine our growth as a Christian. We can choose to lift our heads high and pat ourselves on the back saying that we have done many good works, more so than the average person. Or we can bow our heads and cry out to God in remorse, asking for forgiveness.

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