Basic HTML Version
our neighbor. How could they bring
liberty? We shall see.
Open you own Bible to Exodus 20,
verse 12. " Honour thy father and thy
mother: that thy days may be long
upon the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee." Magnifying this
commandment, Jesus Christ inspired
the apostle Paul to write: "Children,
obey your parents in the Lord: for
this is right" (Eph. 6:1).
"Wow!" sorne parents might ex–
claim. "If our children really hon–
ored and obeyed us, what a more re–
laxed, peaceful, safe and happy life
we could have as a family! Why, we
could take them places without fight–
ing and frustration; we could have
pleasant family gatherings and meals
at home. The kids would gladly help
with the dishes, housework and
chores. And, so very importantly,
they would respect us and respond to
our wishes concerning the kind of
friends they run around with, the
places they go, the things they do–
even the way they dress, fix their hair
and so on. Think of all the hours of
worry and frustration we would be
spared if our kids really honored and
obeyed us."
Parents, does it sound too good to
- be true?
Don't kid yourself! Don't say it is
"impossible" or "out of date." To
sorne extent that commandment was
obeyed in millions of homes in past
generations all over the world. Even
today, though they may break many
other spiritual principies, millions
still follow that principie to a great
extent in bornes in the Orient, West–
e'rn Europe and other parts of the
world. Not in all homes. Not perfect–
ly either, of course.
But to the extent that this law is
obeyed, parents have "rest," confi–
dence and a fair amount of joy in
their home and family, even though
their standard of living may be low.
And this in spite of the fact that most
of those same parents have not
taught and trained their children in
the knowledge of God's law to any–
where near the extent they could and
should have! Many of them, in fact,
are simply following this principie of
God's Word without fully realizing
where it carne from.
But just like the law of gravity,
16
this law works. You can't "reason"
around it, act like it does not exist or
avoid it.
" Liberatlon" for Both Parents and
Chlldren
Obviously, if parents everywhere
would teach their children to respect
these principies, there would truly be
a "Parents' Liberation" movement of
unparalleled proportions!
Parents could then concentrate on
teaching, training, loving and having
delightful family activities with their
children. They could quit worrying
about teenage delinquency, juvenile
dropouts, dope addiction, drunken–
ness, premarital sex and pregnancy
and a veritable host of other youthful
maladies. Millions of heartaches and
billions of tears would be spared
mothers and fathers everywhere.
But what about the young people?
How would this Jaw work for them?
Would they feel oppressed and
thwarted? Would their darling little
personalities fail to blossom i.f not
given complete and unlimited expres–
sion?
Absolutely not!
Remember the promise: " ... that
thy days may be long upon the Jand."
How many mill ions of young people
today are dying before their time,
either figuratively or literally, be–
cause they have not been taught to
honor their parents?
How many are taking drugs and
are damaging or wrecking the high–
est physical creation here on earth,
the human mind? How many are
"serving" their lusts -whether in ii–
Jicit sex, gambling, crime or a host of
other related activities which, for the
vast majority, will lead to unneces–
sary suffering and pr.emature
death?
Within a well-regulated, loving
but disciplined family, these young
people, too, could have the true
"freedom" they yearn for and talk
about, but which somehow always
eludes their grasp. The "law of liber–
ty" alone can guarantee all the bless–
ings mankind yearns for!
An End to War?
ln Exodus 20:13, the Creator who
gives us life commands: "Thou shalt
not kili." This is the second com-
mand which shows us how to love our
neighbor.
Again, J esus Christ magnified the
law and revealed its spiritual intent.
He said: "Ye have heard that it hath
been said, Thou shalt love thy neigh–
bour, and hate thine enemy. But I
say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for
them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you" (Matt. 5:43-44).
First, then, the New Testament
magnification of this command
snows that we are not to kili anybody,
any time, for any purpose. God gives
life, and it is sacred.
God will fight our battles when we
Jearn to believe in Him, obey Him
and trust Him to be our shield and
protector. But as humans, we are not
to take human life under any circum–
stances.
Can you begin to imagine the liberty
this sufferingworld would have if- sud–
denly and unexpectedly- everyone
started obeying this law and you could
count on it? Consider the fantastic liber–
ty and blessings which would be auto–
matically enjoyed by millions of young
men-and all peoples- in every gener–
ation if there were no war. They would
not haveto interrupt theireducation and
family life to go off and be taught to
bate, fight and kili. Hundreds of thou–
sands of them would live- instead of
die-and be able to have normal fami–
lies and children. Additional millions
would not haveto be deformed and crip–
pled for the rest oftheir naturallives as a
result ofwar-related injuries.
Also, these young men, their wives
and sweethearts, and in many cases
their future children, would not be
deeply hurt by the ugly stain of war,
which separates man from wife, child
from father- sometimes for years at
a time, sometimes permanently. And
there are a host of other direct and
indirect sufferings which have
brought untold anguish to war-torn
families from the beginning of time.
Thinking men deeply and fervent–
ly realize the whole war syndrome is
almost like a civilized form of insani–
ty. Yet all the reasonings, all the phi–
losophies, all the leagues of nations
and treaties of men have been unable
to stop war. Only when mankind
comes to know and deeply fear- rev-
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1979