Honor Your Mother (Ex. 20:12) (Part 4)

3. TESTIMONY: YOU SHOULD HONOR YOUR MOTHER BECAUSE YOU LIVE IN A CULTURE OF DISHONOR.

The concept of honor is a virtue that is vanishing quickly in society. If a person will not honor mother – I mean, come on, how difficult is it to do that? – how will he or she honor other authority figures? 

Just so I'm clear, young people, that wonderful nurturer in your life deserves your respect. Show some! She is not “the old hag”, “the old bag” or “that witch.” This means control both your tongue and your thoughts. You're not off the hook just because you didn't say something rude or disrespectful. Were you thinking it? Was it in your heart? (Mt. 12:34b)

The Bible says that “in the last days, difficult times will come.” (2 Tim. 3:1). Two details about these “difficult times” involve the child-parent relationship. First, Paul told Timothy that people would be “disobedient to parents” (2 Tim. 3:2). Second, Paul told Timothy that people would be “unloving” (2 Tim. 3:3). The Amplified Bible reads “without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman) . . .” Would you agree that it is impossible to honor your mother if you don't show love?

On Mother's Day and every day, enjoy defying culture.  Do more than be nice to mom.  Honor her.

Difficult Times (2 Tim. 3:1)

Completely Surrounded By Psychopaths And Sociopaths

 As We Approach The Edge Of Societal Collapse

That's an actual headline.  You can view the story here.  Not much hope, is there?  Timothy stated it clearly:  "...in the last days, difficult times will come."  One commentator called them "insanely outrageous" times.  Here is how The Message puts it:

"As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God."

Insanely outrageous.  Do you see this where you live?  Don't sit around, whine and complain, have a pity party and wait for the end.  Cynical passivity solves nothing.  If you're a believer in Jesus, you're not looking fort the end of the world.  You're looking for the coming of Jesus! Don't be down.  Look up!  He's coming soon!  Until He does, get the message out.  We who know must tell those who don't.

The "Fight" Tells It All

I went fishing last night.  Shocker, right?  One of the fish I reeled in was...well, it looked like a white bass.  Being unsure what it was, I compared it to the picture in the booklet (the one you get when you sign for your license).  Yep, it sure looked like a white bass.

Problem?  That fish was lazy.  It didn't "fight" like any bass I've caught.  A bass without a fight?  No way.  So was it really a white bass?

Though it looked like a white bass, it acted like something else.  I'll take experience over a picture any day.  Forced to choose between the picture in the book and the fight on the reel, I'm going with the fight.  It wasn't a white bass.

How do you know a true Christian?  The "fight" tells it all.  "Fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 6:12).  When your life nears its end, you want to be able to declare, "I have fought the good fight" (2 Tim. 4:7).

For reflection:  What degree of "fight" do you have?