5th Commandment as a Love Letter...
Did you know the 5th commandment starts the SECOND part of 10 commandments?
The 10 commandments can be viewed as having 2 main parts.
The first part is about how to love GOD,
The second part is about how to love OTHERS.
God is like a father wanting ALL his children to get along.
In God's eyes, both us and our parents are His children.
And a father cannot be truly happy if his children are fighting or holding grudges against each other, right?
10 Commandments Law #5:
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."
This command seems cut and dry, but it's so much deeper than what it seems.
This commandment addresses a 2 ROOT issue that many of us will face as we live in this broken world. The 2 things are so extremely toxic to our soul God made a specific law for it.
When we don't honor our father or mother,
The ROOT issues are...
1) UNFORGIVENESS
God knew that most of us would be hurt by our parents in some way. This would give us reason to hold a grudge, be resentful or have triggers and all of those are ROOTED in unforgiveness which is poison for our soul. One of the main reasons we can't honor our father or mother is because we hold something against them, which is unforgiveness, and that blocks our ability to love and honor them. That blocks Jesus from our life.
"Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."
That's why God has such strong words against unforgiveness.
"if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses"
God wasn't trying to be mean, He's just sending such a strong warning saying "Don't drink that poison!!!". If you had a child about to drink deadly poison you would slap, hit or push the child to keep it from touching their mouth. God is doing the same thing with His words. It sounds blunt and inflexible at first, but it's to save our lives from destruction.
2) PRIDE
When you don't honor your parents it's also due to pride.
When we don't honor our parents it's a form of us thinking we're better than they are.
They could have wrong us or hurt us,
They could have made some really foolish decisions,
And we are judging it and holding it against them.
The ROOT of unforgiveness is also pride.
Pride is the first sin by Satan.
It's a BIG deal.
Pride is a deep, ugly, toxic root that ruins lives and separates us from God, which is why He has such strong words against it.
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
God is trying to prevent you from hurting yourself and others. That's the essence of the 5th Love Letter from God.
If you were to ask "Holy Spirit, what is the Father's heart around this commandment?"
You can hear Him saying...
"In this fallen world,
There will be many reasons NOT to honor your father and mother.
They will hurt you,
They will wrong you,
But don't hold it against them,
For that is poison for your soul.
I want you to LIVE, not die,
I want you to THRIVE, not barely survive,
In order to receive blessings,
You must let go of unforgiveness and pride.
Unforgiveness and pride SEPARATES you from Me,
It blocks my blessings,
As it partners you with Satan,
And brings death and destruction.
'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy'
Honor your father and mother,
For your own sake,
And I will bless you abundantly,
I will make up for anything that was lost,
And make it better than new.
Honor your father and mother,
As a way of loving me,
And I will give you true happiness and joy.
TRUST in Me,
LOVE abundantly,
FORGIVE freely,
SURRENDER everything to Me,
And I will BLESS you endlessly.
This is the key to your freedom, happiness and LIFE.
With Love,
Your Father in Heaven"
Forgiving is not easy,
But it's SIMPLE.
It's a CHOICE not a feeling.
It doesn't make the other's person's actions right,
It simply FREES you from the death sentence on your soul.
You can declare forgiveness by FAITH by saying "Jesus, I CHOOSE to forgive ____. I lay this burden down at your feet."
It's that simple.
If you can't even do that,
You can ask God for help to get there.
He's THAT good.
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for your foresight in your 5th Love Letter,
You knew how so many of us would be wounded in this world.
So Father, help me forgive EVERYONE that has wronged me,
Including father or mother,
Brother or sister,
Colleague or stranger.
May I hold no offense, resentment or bitterness,
May I hold no grudge or keep record of wrongs.
You said You would give me the strength to do ALL things,
So I'm taking You up on that offer.
Give me the strength to surrender ALL unforgiveness to You.
Thank You Jesus for your work on the cross,
Thank You for blotting out my sins,
Thank You for making me as white as snow.
Help me honor my father and mother,
As an act of love and obedience to You.
Fill my heart with Your love so I may truly love them like You do.
In Jesus name, Amen."
Cheers to freedom from unforgiveness and pride, especially toward your father or mother. It's never too late to surrender these things to the Lord.
Have a blessed day.
The 10 commandments can be viewed as having 2 main parts.
The first part is about how to love GOD,
The second part is about how to love OTHERS.
God is like a father wanting ALL his children to get along.
In God's eyes, both us and our parents are His children.
And a father cannot be truly happy if his children are fighting or holding grudges against each other, right?
10 Commandments Law #5:
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."
This command seems cut and dry, but it's so much deeper than what it seems.
This commandment addresses a 2 ROOT issue that many of us will face as we live in this broken world. The 2 things are so extremely toxic to our soul God made a specific law for it.
When we don't honor our father or mother,
The ROOT issues are...
1) UNFORGIVENESS
God knew that most of us would be hurt by our parents in some way. This would give us reason to hold a grudge, be resentful or have triggers and all of those are ROOTED in unforgiveness which is poison for our soul. One of the main reasons we can't honor our father or mother is because we hold something against them, which is unforgiveness, and that blocks our ability to love and honor them. That blocks Jesus from our life.
"Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."
That's why God has such strong words against unforgiveness.
"if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses"
God wasn't trying to be mean, He's just sending such a strong warning saying "Don't drink that poison!!!". If you had a child about to drink deadly poison you would slap, hit or push the child to keep it from touching their mouth. God is doing the same thing with His words. It sounds blunt and inflexible at first, but it's to save our lives from destruction.
2) PRIDE
When you don't honor your parents it's also due to pride.
When we don't honor our parents it's a form of us thinking we're better than they are.
They could have wrong us or hurt us,
They could have made some really foolish decisions,
And we are judging it and holding it against them.
The ROOT of unforgiveness is also pride.
Pride is the first sin by Satan.
It's a BIG deal.
Pride is a deep, ugly, toxic root that ruins lives and separates us from God, which is why He has such strong words against it.
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
God is trying to prevent you from hurting yourself and others. That's the essence of the 5th Love Letter from God.
If you were to ask "Holy Spirit, what is the Father's heart around this commandment?"
You can hear Him saying...
"In this fallen world,
There will be many reasons NOT to honor your father and mother.
They will hurt you,
They will wrong you,
But don't hold it against them,
For that is poison for your soul.
I want you to LIVE, not die,
I want you to THRIVE, not barely survive,
In order to receive blessings,
You must let go of unforgiveness and pride.
Unforgiveness and pride SEPARATES you from Me,
It blocks my blessings,
As it partners you with Satan,
And brings death and destruction.
'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy'
Honor your father and mother,
For your own sake,
And I will bless you abundantly,
I will make up for anything that was lost,
And make it better than new.
Honor your father and mother,
As a way of loving me,
And I will give you true happiness and joy.
TRUST in Me,
LOVE abundantly,
FORGIVE freely,
SURRENDER everything to Me,
And I will BLESS you endlessly.
This is the key to your freedom, happiness and LIFE.
With Love,
Your Father in Heaven"
Forgiving is not easy,
But it's SIMPLE.
It's a CHOICE not a feeling.
It doesn't make the other's person's actions right,
It simply FREES you from the death sentence on your soul.
You can declare forgiveness by FAITH by saying "Jesus, I CHOOSE to forgive ____. I lay this burden down at your feet."
It's that simple.
If you can't even do that,
You can ask God for help to get there.
He's THAT good.
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for your foresight in your 5th Love Letter,
You knew how so many of us would be wounded in this world.
So Father, help me forgive EVERYONE that has wronged me,
Including father or mother,
Brother or sister,
Colleague or stranger.
May I hold no offense, resentment or bitterness,
May I hold no grudge or keep record of wrongs.
You said You would give me the strength to do ALL things,
So I'm taking You up on that offer.
Give me the strength to surrender ALL unforgiveness to You.
Thank You Jesus for your work on the cross,
Thank You for blotting out my sins,
Thank You for making me as white as snow.
Help me honor my father and mother,
As an act of love and obedience to You.
Fill my heart with Your love so I may truly love them like You do.
In Jesus name, Amen."
Cheers to freedom from unforgiveness and pride, especially toward your father or mother. It's never too late to surrender these things to the Lord.
Have a blessed day.
