The fifth commandment comes with a promise. The promise of honoring fathers and mothers is that our days might be long. How can we honor someone who is dishonorable? To those whose parents hurt them, you can become a person so honorable that it doesn’t glorify your earthly parents, but your heavenly Father.
In that way, you become an image of Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. You don’t owe your dishonorable parents anything, but you owe it to yourself to become an honorable person by not holding onto that resentment toward those two people who really hurt you.
Stephen Arterburn from Ranger, Texas is the Founder and Chairman of New Life Ministries, Women of Faith conferences, and host of the syndicated Christian counseling radio program, New Life Live! New Life Live! won National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Radio Program of the Year in 2023. Stephen Arterburn’s first book, Hooked On Life, was published in 1984. He has become a New York Times Bestselling and Award-Winning author with more than 15 million books in print, receiving four ECPA Gold Medallion “Book of the Year” awards for quality and impact. TheEvery Man’s Battleseries won two of those awards and has sold over 4 million copies. Steve has degrees from Baylor University and The University of North Texas as well as two honorary doctorate degrees, including one from The California Graduate School of Theology. Steve resides with his family in Carmel, Indiana.
