"Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother." --The obligation resting upon
children to honour their parents is of lifelong duration. If the parents are
feeble and old, the affection and attention of the children should be bestowed
in proportion to the need of father and mother. Nobly, decidedly, the children
should shape their course of action even if it requires self-denial, so that
every thought of anxiety and perplexity may be removed from the minds of the
parents. . . .
Children should be educated to love and care tenderly for father and mother.
Care for them, children, yourselves; for no other hand can do the little acts of
kindness with the acceptance that you can do them. Improve your precious
opportunity to scatter seeds of kindness.
Our obligation to our parents never ceases. Our love for them, and theirs for
us, is not measured by years or distance, and our responsibility can never be
set aside.
Let children carefully remember that at the best the aged parents have but
little joy and comfort. What can bring greater sorrow to their hearts than
manifest neglect on the part of their children? What sin can be worse in
children than to bring grief to an aged, helpless father or mother?
Smooth the Pathway. --After children grow to years of maturity, some of them
think their duty is done in providing an abode for their parents. While giving
them food and shelter, they give them no love or sympathy. In their parents' old
age, when they long for expression of affection and sympathy, children
heartlessly deprive them of their attention. There is no time when children should withhold
respect and love from their father and mother. While the parents live, it should
be the children's joy to honour and respect them. They should bring all the
cheerfulness and sunshine into the life of the aged parents that they possibly
can. They should smooth their pathway to the grave. There is no better
recommendation in this world than that a child has honoured his parents, no
better record in the books of heaven than that he has loved and honoured father
and mother.
Ingratitude to Parents. --Is it possible that children can become so dead to
the claims of father and mother that they will not willingly remove all causes
of sorrow in their power, watching over them with unwearying care and devotion?
Can it be possible that they will not regard it a pleasure to make the last days
of their parents their best days? How can a son or daughter be willing to leave
father or mother on the hands of strangers for them to care for! Even were the
mother an unbeliever and disagreeable, it would not release the child from the
obligation that God has placed upon him to care for his parent.
Some Parents Are Responsible for Disrespect. -- When parents permit a child
to show them disrespect in childhood, allowing them to speak pettishly and even
harshly, there will be a dreadful harvest to be reaped in after years. When
parents fail to require prompt and perfect obedience in their children, they
fail to lay the right foundation of character in their little ones. They prepare
their children to dishonour them when they are old, and bring sorrow to their
hearts when they are nearing the grave, unless the grace of Christ changes the
hearts and transforms the characters of their children.
Show No Retaliation Against Unjust Parents. --Said one of her mother, "I
always hated my mother, and my mother hated me." These words stand
registered in the books of heaven to be opened and revealed in the day of
judgement when everyone shall be rewarded according to his works.
If children think that they were treated with severity in their childhood,
will it help them to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, will it make
them reflect His image, to cherish a spirit of retaliation and revenge against
their parents, especially when they are old and feeble? Will not the very
helplessness of the parents plead for the children's love? Will not the
necessities of the aged father and mother call forth the noble feelings of the
heart, and through the grace of Christ, shall not the parents be treated with
kind attention and respect by their offspring? Oh, let not the heart be made as
adamant as steel against father and mother! How can a daughter professing the
name of Christ cherish hatred against her mother, especially if that mother is
sick and old? Let kindness and love, the sweetest fruits of Christian life, find
a place in the heart of children toward their parents.
Be Patient With Infirmities. --Especially dreadful is the thought of a child
turning in hatred upon a mother who has become old and feeble, upon whom has
come those infirmities of disposition attendant upon second childhood. How
patiently, how tenderly, should children bear with such a mother! Tender words
which will not irritate the spirit should be spoken. A true Christian will never
be unkind, never under any circumstances be neglectful of his father or mother,
but will heed the command, "Honour thy father and thy mother." God has said, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of
the old man." . . .
Children, let your parents, infirm and unable to care for themselves, find
their last days filled with contentment, peace, and love. For Christ's sake let
them go down to the grave receiving from you only words of kindness, love,
mercy, and forgiveness. You desire the Lord to love and pity and forgive you,
and to make all your bed in your sickness, and will you not treat others as you
would wish to be treated yourself?
God's Plan of Caring for the Aged. --The matter of caring for our aged
brethren and sisters who have no homes is constantly being urged. What can be
done for them? The light which the Lord has given me has been repeated: It is
not best to establish institutions for the care of the aged, that they may be in
a company together. Nor should they be sent away from home to receive care. Let
the members of every family minister to their own relatives. When this is not
possible, the work belongs to the church, and it should be accepted both as a
duty and as a privilege. All who have Christ's spirit will regard the feeble and
aged with special respect and tenderness.
A Privilege That Brings Satisfaction and Joy. --The thought that children
have ministered to the comfort of their parents is a thought of satisfaction all
through the life, and will especially bring them joy when they themselves are in
need of sympathy and love. Those whose hearts are filled with love will regard
the privilege of smoothing the passage to the grave for their parents an
inestimable privilege. They will rejoice that they had a part in bringing
comfort and peace to the last days of their loved parents. To do otherwise than this, to deny to the helpless aged
ones the kindly ministrations of sons and daughters, would fill the soul with
remorse, the days with regret, if our hearts were not hardened and cold as a
stone.