Christian Foundations

DEVOTIONAL ARCHIVE

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by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

Romans 13:7
Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due...honor to whom honor.

Each May, because of Anna Jarvis, 10 million of us send flowers to our mothers and 150 million of us send Mother's Day cards. Because of Sonora Smart Dodd, greeting card companies sell 85 million Father's Day cards each year. Anna organized the first Mother's Day observances at the Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. And Sonora, sitting in a church during one of the first Mother's Day celebrations in Spokane, Washington, was inspired to organize the first special observances of Father's Day.

To many, these observances have become more of an obligation and a nuisance than special occasions. I beg to differ. I think mothers and fathers are heroes, and are well deserving of their special days.

Sports heroes receive honor. If you can slam dunk a basketball, knock the breath out of a running back or throw a baseball 95 miles an hour, you can make millions in contracts and endorsements.

Entertainers receive honor. Hardly a week goes by without award presentations to musicians, TV stars and movie performers.

Soldiers and policemen earn medals for acts of courage and heroism. Employees are often honored for top performances or for years of service.

God ordained the "office" or position of parent. Our nation's greatest defense is not its military, but the family. Its greatest asset is not the national treasury, but parents...your parents.

Prayer:

That God will heal any of your own memories that make it hard to honor you parents, and that your own parenting will be worthy of honor.

Discuss: Do you have some negative feelings toward your parents left over from childhood that make it difficult for you to truly honor them? What can be done to change this so that you can honor them?

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