‘You shall fear every man his mother, and his father…I am the Lord your God…If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you
If a man curses his father or mother, his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness’
(Lev 19:3; 20:9; Deut 5:16; PV 20:20)

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave the command that they should multiply. To be a mother or a father, this is a gift from God. No child comes on earth without God’s design and approval. God chooses our parents. God chooses our children. No one is by accident. God never makes mistakes. You did not choose your natural family, your parents and siblings. God did it!
God commands the children to do two things in regard to their parents: to honor and to fear them. These are two different words but together they say that we should invest in and prayerfully improve our relationship with our parents the best we can.
If a man dishonors his parents, he dishonors God who gave them to him. If a man ignores his parents, he rejects the sovereignty of God who never makes mistakes. It is not enough to say that your parents were bad; that they ‘did not try enough’ for you. Do not excuse your rebellion. No matter the situation, for as long as they live, they are your parents and you owe them deep respect. Pay your debt of honor to them. If you are willing to learn how to respect, but don’t know how to do it, pray for wisdom and God will give it to you ‘liberally’ without finding fault with your request (Jam 1:5).
We should never ignore or take our parents for granted. We should value the gift of having parents as a gift from God. Do not envy the orphans! Some people do not have natural parents. If that is your situation, then pray and look for mentors or spiritual parents, for the command above applies to all. Some have difficult relationship with their natural parents for example, when the children are saved and the parents are not. But even then, this command does not exempt anyone. Pray to God for wisdom and trust Him for the strength to obey the Word of God.
The reward of your obedience is long and prosperous life!!! The sentence ‘that it may go well with you’ in Hebrew it means that you become beautiful, accepted, happy, content and to find favor with God and men. Many abuse their parents, especially when they are old and they need help. This neglect of duties is clearly a disobedience to the Word of God. This sin ends up in poverty, failure to fulfill destiny, spiritual blindness and untimely death. The words ‘pitch darkness’ mean that the rebellious child shall remain foolish, making a lot of mistakes, losing opportunities and money. He shall a live of misery and sorrow.
The ideal family set up is to have God at the center. If the parents and the children are saved, and Christ is the King over all, the hurts will be minimal and the mistakes transformed into wisdom. But this ideal is rarely found. Most people come from ‘broken’ homes where sin was the master. The wounds and the pains found in many marriages and families all over the world are so deep, that words cannot describe. Disobedience to God’s commands brings curses and creates a life time of chaos and pain. The only hope for any family, for both parents and children is found in Christ alone! Selah!
No matter how old we are, we have parents. Even if the natural parents are dead, there is still an authority placed upon us by God that stands as spiritual parents. To live without any spiritual covering, no be ‘free’ from any responsibility to submit to others who are over us that is a declaration that you are a spiritual bastard or an orphan. That is a curse! It is a sign of unbelief, for no child of God is an orphan.
‘Lord Jesus, help me to improve my relationship with my parents, natural and spiritual. I reject the evil spirit of an orphan! I receive the Holy Spirit who helps me to cry Abba Father! Lord, I pray for divine wisdom how to practically apply the Word of God to daily living. I truly desire that You be glorified in my relationship with my parents and my children,
In Jesus name,
Amen!!’
(In the picture above: my mother, Prof. Albai Domnica, 80 years old, and me; this picture is taken when I visited her the last time in Orsova, Romania)