THINK TOGETHER.
What does it mean to curse someone?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 20:20. If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.
Do you remember the Ten Commandments? Do you remember what the fifth commandment is? That’s right, Honor your father and your mother. Do you do that? Do you listen to your mom and your dad? Do you obey them? Do you say nice things to them? Our parents are a special gift from God. Remember, God himself is our Heavenly Father, our ultimate parent.
When Solomon warns his children to never, ever curse their father or mother he is not just being selfish, demanding that his kids obey him. No, he is teaching them to trust God and worship their Heavenly Father. How do we trust God? By trusting our earthly parents. How do we honor God? By honoring our earthly parents. The warning Solomon gives is pretty strict isn’t it? Whoever curses their parent will have their lamp put out. This might be talking about having a rough life, or even dying. Yikes!
The word curses that Solomon uses is a very strong word. He’s not talking about having an argument with your parents, or getting upset with each other once in a while. To curse your parents was to wish they were dead and gone. Do you remember the Prodigal Son story? The younger brother cursed his father when he asked for his inheritance early. He was basically saying, I wish you were dead. And do you remember what happened to him? His lamp went out when he ended up penniless and feeding the pigs. But did his father forgive him and take him back? Did his father forgive one of the worst sins ever? Yes, he did!
We can always be forgiven because Jesus never sinned. Jesus is our substitute who never cursed his Father. He never disobeyed his Father. Never got angry at his Father. Never wished he had a different Father. And yet, his light was put out for us on the cross. He took our punishment so that we might have his inheritance.
Because of Jesus we can be forgiven of any sin, even cursing our parents.
With Jesus we can trust God by trusting our parents.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Kids, write down a way that you might honor your parents today. Ask Jesus to help you do it!
PRAY TOGETHER.
Jesus, you are the perfect son who gives your perfection to me. Thank you! Amen.
TLICfamily 