Westminster Shorter Catechism Question for the Week
Q.63. What is the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment is: Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you..
God has established lines of authority within which we all live. We are under the authority of our government, of our command structure at work or school, and of our spiritual leaders in our church. And God has ordained a line of authority in families also.
As we will see in the following catechism questions and answers, the fifth commandment tells us to submit to the rightful authorities in all aspects of our lives. In the next few weeks we will see how this applies to government, work, and church as well as home. But for this week, we see the direct command to honor our parents. For children, this will mean they should obey their parents immediately without questions or complaints. For children to disobey their parents is to disrespect their God-given authority, and therefore it is to disobey God.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
