Through The Bible in a Year - October 2, 2026
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’” Ephesians 6:1–3
Paul roots this instruction to children in the same soil as everything else in Ephesians: what it means to be united to the Lord. Children are not told simply to obey their parents, but to obey them “in the Lord.” Honor of parents is not a bare social nicety, nor a rule for keeping the peace or getting rewards — such honor is one of the earliest ways a child can express trust in and honor for God Himself.
Paul calls this parental honor “the first commandment with a promise.” That promise — that it may go well, that life may be long — is not a magic formula guaranteeing a problem-free life. It is a picture of the ordinary blessing that comes when families are oriented toward the Lord rather than toward selfish satisfaction or self-absorbed interests. Such families experience the stability, trust, and mutual support that God designed to help us weather the hard seasons of life together. Godly parenting is not a guarantee of old age for our children, but a path to the relational and spiritual strength that lasts through all the life that God grants.
For parents, this verse is a reminder that what we are cultivating in a child's obedience is not our own comfort but our children’s understanding of how honoring God is life’s greatest preparation for life’s greatest challenges. For children old enough to hear it, and for the adult children we all remain, honor of spiritual authority is never outgrown — it simply matures to the degree of devotion needed for the trials and triumphs of each stage of life.
RESPOND
How is honor being taught in your home right now — as compliance to keep peace, or as a practice that points each heart toward God?
If you are a parent, consider specific ways you can explain to your children why obedience matters, not just that it matters. How does honoring a parent’s authority help a child to understand, be protected, and be blessed by God’s authority.
If your own parents are living, is there a step of honor — a call, a visit, a kind word — that this passage also prompts you to take for your parent’s sake or for God’s honor?
PRAYER: Lord, thank You for ordering our families with gospel priorities, not just behavioral demands. Teach the children in my life — and teach me — what it means to honor those You have placed in spiritual authority over us. Help us to understand how that honor is rooted in honoring You more than in the perfections of any parent. May the gospel guide us all in honoring those You put in spiritual authority in our lives, not because of their deserving but because of the grace you are maturing in us. In Jesus' name, amen.