Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD

your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12 ESV)

Holidays like Father’s Day and Mother’s Day can come with different emotions. Maybe you have

a great dad, and it’s a day of fun and family. Maybe this is the first Father’s Day after losing your

father, and it’s a time of grief. Maybe this is your first Father’s Day AS a father (Congratulations!).

My father passed away over 20 years ago, but it is an enjoyable day of remembrance. The initial

grief is gone, and I can remember the fun times. I had a good daddy, but he was not perfect. I

am guessing that none of us had perfect fathers. And I am guessing that some of us had bad

fathers. I know stories of friends whose fathers were abusive, absent, incarcerated, addicted,

and otherwise dishonorable.

What if your father is/was dishonorable? Does that mean you don’t have to honor him? I do not

read any loopholes in the fifth Commandment, so how can we honor a father who is less than

honorable? I believe you can honor him by forgiving him. Jesus said, “For if you forgive other

people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you

do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15

NIV)

We can have a perfect father. If we follow Christ, we are God’s children. All through the

Scriptures we have reminders of how God loves us and is a perfect Father.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those

who fear him. (Psalm 103:13 ESV)

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,

“Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir

through God. (Galatians 4:6-7 ESV)

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of

God; and so we are. (1 John 3:1a ESV)

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:8 ESV)



If you have not yet experienced this love yourself, please don’t go another day without it. Pray

now to receive God’s forgiveness, choose to follow Christ, and embrace the love of God, who is

and always will be your good good Father.

By Jennifer Preston

Jennfier is wife to David, mom to Joe and Nick, mom-in-law to Nicki, Nana to Naomi, and cat

servant to Queenie.