"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

Continuing to think about how to honor our parents, two thoughts…

First, we need to be courteous and careful when talking about our parents. We ought not share anything about our parents that would embarrass them or put them in a bad light. Though something may seem funny to us, it might make them feel uncomfortable, causing them to cringe or be humiliated to hear us talking to others about personal matters.

There could be occasions when it is appropriate if we are seeking personal counsel about dealing with past abuses by our parents. That is different from bashing parents for things in the past about which we have forgiven (or should have forgiven) them.

A good way to avoid talking negatively about our parents is to make a pact with our mouths to only speak in complimentary ways about them. And as the old saying goes, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!”

Second, when our parents are deceased, honor their memory. Don’t think that once they have died it is now OK to dishonor them in any way.

Next time: Training our children to honor their parents!