Worth Fighting For
Part 2 – Honor and Respect
Discussion Guide
Some of us have great relationships with our parents, yet some people do not have a relationship with their parents at all. Let’s learn how God designed this relationship to work best. We have people in authority over us from childhood to old age. Let’s learn how we can honor and respect our parents – and others who may be in authority over us—throughout the seasons of our lives. By showing honor and respect, we honor God, and our relationships become simpler and more natural.
What you will need: A Bible or your Bible app, a notebook, pen, and highlighter. The verses highlighted below are linked so that you can easily access them during your study time.
Jump Start
1. Do you feel it is easier to respect and be kind to your parents, or everyone else?
2. Read Ephesians 6:1-3. Who is meant in this verse when it says “children”? What is the promise that goes along with honoring your parents? What does the world say about showing honor compared to what the Bible says?
3. Accept their authority. Read Luke 2:48-51 and Colossians 3:20. How did Jesus’ parents react when they could not find Him? What example did Jesus set for us on how to respond to our parents when they are worried?
4. Read 1 Peter 2:17. Does “honor everyone” have any qualifications? What does love have to do with honor? Who are the “emperors” in your life?
5. Appreciate them. Read Colossians 3:15-16 and Proverbs 23:22. In what ways do the Colossians passage describe how we should act as children who honor God? How can we apply this lesson to our lives if we have a difficult relationship with our parents?
6. Make sure to care for them. Read Mark 7:10-13 and John 19:26-27. Why did Jesus rebuke the religious leaders? What was most important to Him: caring for parents or dedicating extra gifts to God? How did He say this dishonored the Word of God? How did Jesus take care of His mother?
7. Action Step: What are the little things you can do to honor your parents? Share them with your Life Group. How does this translate to someone else in your life who you should honor and respect?
Deeper
Read through these Bible stories of people honoring their parents, or the authority God had placed in their lives.
8. Read Genesis 50: In what ways did Joseph honor Jacob? How did he respond to his brothers in a way that honored Jacob and God?
9. Read 1 Samuel 24: What situation was David in? How did his men react to seeing Saul? Why was he grief-stricken over his actions?
10. Read 2 Samuel 9: Why would David seek out the grandson of his enemy? What could Mephibosheth have been expecting to happen?
11. Read John 19:26-27: When Jesus was on the cross, how did He honor and support His mother?