"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right."
Ephesians 6:1
“Children,”
Children need their parents. God’s ideal for the family is for children to grow up in a home with their father, and their mother. Both parents are needed in godly child-rearing for they both have a part in “bringing up” the child into adulthood. Parents need to be familiar with the child’s changing needs as they develop (ages and stages). There is help for the single parent available, from godly men and women in their local church.
Children need parents because they are not fully grown and cannot function as godly adults in the world yet, they are children. The word “children” here in our verse is from the Greek word, which means a young “child” or “offspring.”1 In this usage, it is referring to the child being trained by parents because he/she is not of an age to be independent. Paul, in verse 4, tells the “fathers” of children to “bring them up,” that is to “bring them up” from infancy to adulthood. The child is prepped by parents, in everything necessary for them to live as a believer in this sinful world. This training takes the form of both teaching and discipline (v. 4).
“Obey your parents.”
The first lesson that a child must learn in life is how to listen to and obey dad and mom. Interestingly, the Greek word for “obedience” that is used here for children’s obedience is the same word used in verse five for the “servant’s” compliance with his master. The parent has the authority to command the child, and the master is over the servant. The child and the servant are placed under their respective powers to obey. The child needs to learn to follow his parent’s rules whether or not he/she fully understands the reason for the command. Believers, are we not called upon to obey God whether we fully understand His purposes for His commandments or not?
“Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:20).
For the child, learning obedience begins with dad and mom. Come back tomorrow as we continue discussing “obedience.”
1. See Thayer, Ephesians 6:1, “children,” teknon. J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.