CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Honoring Your Elderly Parents

"LISTEN to your father who caused your birth, an do not despise your mother just because she has grown old," counseled the wise man of long ago.  (Proverbs 23:22) 'I would never do that! you may say, instead of despising our mothers-or our fathers-most of us feel a deep love for them.  We recognize that we owe them a great deal. First of all,  our parents gave us life.  While Jehovah is the Source of life, without our parents we simply would not exist. Nothing we can give our parents is as precious as life itself. Then, just think of the self-sacrifice, anxious care, expense,m and loving attention involved in helping a child along the path from infancy to adulthood. How reasonable it is, therefore, that God's Word counsels:  "Honor you father and your mother . . .  that it may go well with you and you may endure a long time on earth"! - Ephesians 6:2, 3. 

RECOGNIZING EMOTIONAL NEEDS 

The apostle Paul wrote to Christians:  "Let  [children or grandchildren] learn  first to practice godly devotion in their own household and to keep paying a due compensation to their parents and grandparents, for this is acceptable in God's sight."  ( 1 Timothy 5:4)  Grown children offer this "due compensation" by showing appreciation for the years of love, work, and care that their parents and grandparents spent on them. One way children can do this is by recognizing that like everyone else, older ones need love and reassurance-often desperately so. Like all of us, they need to feel valued.   They need to feel that their lives   are worthwhile.

So we can honor our parents and grandparents by letting them know that we love them.  (1 Corinthians 16:14) If our parents are not living with us, we should remember that hearing from us can mean a great deal to them.  A cheerful letter, a phone call, or a visit can greatly contribute to their joy. Miyo, who lives in Japan, wrote when she was 82 years of age:  "My daughter [whose husband is a traveling minister] tells me:  'Mother, please "travel" with us.' She sends  me their schedule route and telephone number for each week.  I can open my map and say 'ah. Now they are here!' I always thank Jehovah for the blessing of having such a child."

Next time: Honoring Your Elderly Parents/ASSISTING WITH MATERIAL NEEDS

From the book:  The Secret of FAMILY HAPPINESS