A short word on hearts and parents

My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways."
- Proverbs 23:26, ESV

Muril's Return of the Prodigal Son

If the Lord has given us a godly father and mother, how greatly we ought to prize them, and embrace their wisdom and guidance! It is a sad and foolish thing when we (young people in general) see our parents as a hindrance to our desires and dreams instead of our most trusted counselors and confidants.

Before Christ saved me, I would have quoted "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" and preferred the 'freedom' of letting my heart be broken by the young man I 'loved' than that I should humble myself and submit to my parents in matters of the heart. It took a mighty work of God's saving grace in my heart to change me from someone who despised my parent's love and counsel to someone who desires and seeks it - not because they are perfect, but because it is HIS way, and being His way is the best way.

To see our parents' faults and yet give them our hearts is sometimes hard and often humbling. But God ordains that we submit to and honor our imperfect parents, obeying them in the Lord, and humble submission to His order invites His blessing. As the divine Son submitted to the divine Father, so we whom He has redeemed submit our fallible selves to our fallible parents. In this way we reflect our love for the one who was 'obedient even to death'. It may mean the death of our pride and the growth of our wisdom in ways that we never imagined.

Godly parents are among the very greatest blessings God can give to a child. How we should honor them and the One who gave them to us!