Text by Mari Anjeli Crisanto
Read:
Ephesians 6:1-4 (NASB)
6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 so that it may turn out well for you, and that you may live long on the earth.
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Reflect:
In our science subjects, our teachers have taught us about the different kinds of relationships in the living world. Ecological relationships include competition, predation, symbiosis, mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/ecological-relationships/) . Competition is when two or more organisms rely on the same environmental source and thus contend with one another. Predation is when one animal feeds on the other one. Symbiosis is when two dissimilar organisms have a close relationship and have some form of cooperative relationship. Mutualism is a symbiotic give and take relationship. Commensalism, meanwhile, is also a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits while the other doesn’t but is unharmed. Finally, parasitism is a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits but the other is harmed.
We acknowledge that human beings are more developed than other creatures. We have been made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27) after all. It is hard to be examined from biological and ecological perspectives alone. Yet, we see that the relationships mentioned here are present among humans as well.
When it comes to the relationship between parents and their children, we see from Ephesians 6:1-4 that some form of mutualism should actually be present. There should be a give and take between the two parties. Both benefit and neither should be harmed. Children should honor their parents. Parents should bring their children up in discipline and instruction in the Lord.
When the relationship is not competitive, not predatory, not parasitic, or not a mere commensality, parents and children can run together and change the world. They can fulfil God’s mandate to fill and subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28) and to do the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Parents and children – let us run as one!
Respond:
Children, are you obeying your parents and honoring them in the Lord? If you feel you are lacking in this aspect, ask God to teach you how to obey and honor them more.
Parents, are you bringing your children up in discipline and instruction in the Lord? Or are you provoking them to anger? If you feel you need to improve in this, ask our great Father as well to teach you how to father as He does.
Mari Anjeli Crisanto currently resides in the Salad Bowl of the Philippines - La Trinidad, Benguet! She is a wife, a mom, a full-time educator, and a daughter of the King. She worships God through songs and scribbles. Words deeply impact her. This is why she loves God's Word because, more powerful than any other word, it can cut through us, transforming you and me.
AUTHOR: MARI ANJELI CRISANTO