"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12

The fifth commandment, “Honor your father and mother,” is the first about our horizontal relationships (with one another after our vertical relationship with God.) It is fitting that our relationship with our parents is the first of the second table of the Law, since our relationship with our parents is primary. Our relationship with our parents is primary for a few reasons:

God’s first commands to Adam and Eve includes the injunction to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). This underscores God’s priority for those created in His image to bear children.

Our relationship with parents is our first relationship. God forms us from two cells, one from our father and one from our mother. God continues to form us for nine months as we grow inside of our mothers’ wombs. While in our mothers’ wombs, we hear our mothers’ voices and the rhythmic beating of their hearts. (And yes, we are human beings created in the image of God from the moment of conception!)

We come into this world, and see our first (probably blurry) glimpse after our mothers give birth. Usually the first arms to embrace us are our mothers’ arms.

From that first day outside our mothers’ wombs we are cared for by our mothers and by our fathers. We not only share our parents’ DNA, as they train us. They are our first and primary teachers. And as Jesus said, “everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). For better or worse, we receive our first impressions of God from our parents. These, and as we will see more, are foundational reasons for us to obey God by honoring our fathers and mothers.

Next time: A difference between honor and respect.