孩子 – 家庭的果实
查尔斯.兰姆（Charles Lamb)曾说, 世界上没有任何事物他不愿割捨的，只要能唤回已离开人间的母亲。自己要跪在已逝世的母亲面前，求她原谅自己以前所作过每一个令她温柔的灵魂伤心的行为。我相信，随着岁月增加，每个有思想的孩子都会有这样的感觉，并且已经能体会到父母为他做了什麽。
任何人都不应该认为孩子太小而在家庭的建造中所扮演的角色不重要。 好比手錶裡面的小齿轮 – 其中有的甚至超小 – 但它们对这手錶能完好运作的重要性却是一点不少。一个小孩的脾气可能是很坏，暴躁不安，会扰乱整个家庭，这小孩也可能非常的可爱/贴心，为整个家庭带来平安欢乐。
顺服
有三件事是为人父母该做的，那就是爱，管教和教导。而孩子的责任是什么呢? 他们该做些什么呢？
圣经并没有说，“当父母做得对时，儿女当顺从父母 ”。圣经是说，“你们作儿女的，要在主里听从父母，这是理所当然的”. . . 即便他们是错误的（以弗所书6:1）。有人可能会想要说，圣经裡并没有太多有关于主耶稣早期生平的记载。.可是虽然只有几句话的记载，却非常的清楚明白。经上记载说：“他回到拿撒勒并且服从他们”（他们就是他母亲与地上的父亲）。而，耶稣是谁呢？这个顺从的孩子是谁呢？他就是永生神的儿子。他是创造宇宙万物的造物主。 相信没有比这更美好的记述了。“万物是藉着他造的；凡被造的，没有一样不是藉着他造的。”（约翰福音1:3）他是万物的主也是天上至高的主宰。在顺服的功课上，这是多麽完全的顺服啊！
“你们做父亲的，不要惹儿女的气，只要照着主的教训和警诫，养育他们。”（以弗所书6:4）许多年轻人认为顺服并且服从父母是一件羞辱的事，是一种自我设限的约束，会限制了他们。你看耶稣是否有受到服从的影响呢？我们知道那并没有影响到他。一个年轻的生命是不会被因受到真诚的基督徒父母的劝告的影响而被误导，而误入歧途的。没有一个年轻人是因为遵守敬虔的父母的引导而成长受到阻碍`受压制或受伤害的。耶稣服从他地上的父母,直到他30岁 -直到他离开那个家，接受上帝所指派要去做的工。
这顺服需要是绝对的；这是包括一切乐意的与不乐意的事。唯一的一个最关键条件就是“要在主里”。儿女们“要在主里”听从父母。一个基督徒父母可能会要求儿女遵守看起来好像不妥的指示， 但儿女必须服从。“你们做儿女的，要凡事听从父母，因为这是主所喜悦的。”（歌罗西书3；20）可是我们也知道父母亲也有可能犯错。任何人叫我们去违反上帝的法则，无论那人多有权威，那都是不具约束的。如果有不敬畏的父母要求孩子违背神的话, 跌倒的将是父母, 而不是孩子。圣经说：“凡使这信我的一个小子跌倒的，倒不如把大磨石拴在这人的颈项上，扔在海里。”（马可福音9：42）
爱父母并且敬重父母
为人父母的可能已把“儿女在主里听从父母”以及“做父亲的不要惹儿女的气”这两条诫命视为理所当然。然而这两条诫命命彼此是相关以及互动的。如果有不信的父母强迫儿女也不信主，所造成的后果也将会落在父母本身以及孩子的身上。
我想有些事对于年轻人来说可能不需多作解释。例如，有个年轻女孩为她的母亲而感到羞耻。她看见母亲的美容已消逝，衣裳也不如以前，双手又因劳动而发红粗糙。女孩为她自己的母亲感到羞耻，不愿意介绍给来访的朋友认识。又比如孩子会为驼背的父亲而感羞耻。其实父亲那黝黑受岁月摧残的脸，残缺的双手，常年辛苦工作都是为了提供孩子较好的机会和生活。他以此而自豪。然而年纪轻的儿女或许害怕他们穿着时髦的年轻朋友，看见自己父亲的这幅 “老头子”德像，令他们感到羞耻。
为人父母的可能已把“儿女在主里听从父母”以及“做父亲的不要惹儿女的气”这两条诫命视为理所当然。然而这两条诫命彼此是相关以及互动的。如果有不信的父母强迫儿女也不信主的話，所造成的后果也将会落在父母的身上而不是孩子的身上。
我不知道有什麽话是比这个更需要对要对我们的一些年轻人说的话了。例如，有个年轻女孩为她的母亲感到羞耻。她看母亲的容颜已经消逝，衣裳也不如以前精緻，双手又因劳动而发红粗糙。这年轻女孩为自己的母亲感到羞耻，不愿意介绍给来家裡拜访的朋友们认识。又比如，这样的羞耻感是针对父亲的，因为父亲的背驼了；儿女们可能为驼背的父亲而感到羞耻。其实父亲那黝黑受岁月风霜的脸，磨损的手，无声的表达了一个事实，父亲常年辛勤劳苦为了要提供孩子在生命中能有比自己更好的机会和更好的生活。父母以儿女为荣，感到骄傲。然而少不更事的儿女也许羞于让他们穿着时髦光鲜的朋友们，看到父亲这 “老头子”的模样。
这些并不是我们想像出来的事。我们都知道有很多这样的实际案例。你难道不晓得父母亲那些因劳苦，年龄，关爱，因为要给你而自己缺乏，所造成的痕迹不正是爱你的最真實印记吗？你父亲母亲为你倾注出他们的血汗，结果自己身上才有了那些痕迹的。
你会为一个为了保护你而失去了一只眼的人感到羞耻吗？如果不会的话，你的父母亲所作的不仅仅只是保护你性命而已。他们经历难眠的深夜与忧虑的白昼，他们在你患病是照顾在病床上的你。他们不顾惜自己生活上的需要，却总是要满足你的舒适。他们早出晚归辛勤工作，好让你不失去学习的机会，为了预备你以后有出息，能在世上能做大事。那是他们身上疤痕的来由，那是神圣的疤痕 – 你却为他们感到羞耻？
在我们中西部的一个小城，有一个店铺商人为了能让儿子上大学，必需抵押他的店铺才能供儿子的学费。他们夫妻两人省吃俭用，节衣缩食，为了让儿子能在同学当中衣着得体，有零用钱花。几个月过去后，两老耐不住想见儿子的心，他们带着老马拉着遥摇晃晃的马车就向几十英里外的大学城出发；（若不是为了凑钱给孩子，他们原本拥有一辆汽车的）。他们到达时正好是下课时刻。看见儿子亨利从大学走出来，他们就迎了上去。亨利周围的同学们却嘲笑那辆旧马车和这对衣着寒酸的老夫妇。亨利停下脚步细看了看他父母，他顿时红起脸来，回转头急忙走开，装着不认识他们。两老心碎了，拖着疲劳的身躯回家。当天夜里老母亲就与世长辞了。
如果读到我这话的是年轻人你，可能受到旁人的影响而表现出类似亨利的，我恳求你千万不要这样做。。。如果你的父母亲都还健在的，或是只有父亲或母亲一人还健在的，愿你到他们面前去，拥抱他们，告诉他们，你爱他们，感谢他们为你所作的一切。如果他们住在别处，离你远，你现在抱不到的话，愿你现在就给他们写信！写给他们一封长信，装满你的爱，喜乐和感恩的信！
儿女永远不会老到自己不再是父母的孩子的。因此这个爱与尊敬需要不断的付给他们，只要父母还活在人间就当如此对待他们。生命中美丽的事物，没有几件是能比得上来自于成年儿女对于老迈的父母所流露的真情与深切的关爱还更美丽动人的了。这非常讨神的喜悦，绝对是令神心意满足的！
当我们的父母亲逐渐年老时，他们就开始与我们对换角色了。从前他们养育我们，如今却是我们的特权与荣耀来奉养父亲母亲。从前他们为我们抵挡风浪，呵护我们；如今轮到我们替他们遮风挡雨，保护他们。我们现在强壮了，他们却衰弱了。这是我们关爱回报父母养育之恩的好机会啊。其实我们能回报的也只是微不足道的小部分而已，因为儿女是不可能完全报答父母的爱与他们的养育之恩的。
生命中的最大满足也没有几样是比这个更令人内心满足的了，就是知道在父母需要照顾/需要帮助时，你真实是用爱心温柔来看顾他们了。这个满足带来的是灵魂深处的平安，这会让未来到天堂时的团聚在期待中更加的荣耀。这样子，能没有因错失机会去照顾他们的愧疚亏欠，内心没有遗憾而能够平安向父母道别的，确实是很蒙福！
Children – The Fruit of the Home
Charles Lamb said that there was nothing on earth that he would not give to be able to call back his departed mother, and on his knees, ask her forgiveness for every act that had grieved her gentle spirit. Surely, as the years advance, every thoughtful child has felt like this and has come to the realization of what his parents have done for him.
Let no one suppose that any child is too small to have a very real part in the making of a home. The wheels in my watch are small – some of them exceedingly so – but they are all important to the well being of that timepiece. A small child can be so ill tempered and fretful that he upsets the whole household or he can be so loving and thoughtful that he brings peace and cheer to the whole home.
Obedience
There are 3 things parents must do – Love, Discipline and Teach, but what are the duties of children in the home? What is their part?
The Bible does not say, “Children obey your parents when they are right”. It says, “Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right”… even if they are wrong (Eph. 6:1). Some would try to say that there is no record of the early life of our Savior. Only a few statements are recorded about his early life, but they are revealing. There are no more beautiful words than those which say of Him, “He went down to Nazareth, and was subject unto them” (that is, unto His mother and foster-father). And who was Jesus? Who was this Child who obeyed? He was the eternal Son of God. He was the creator of the entire universe, “for by him were all things made and without him was not anything made that was made.” He was the Lord and Master of all the hosts of heaven. What a lesson in obedience!
“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Many young people get the idea that to obey and to be subject unto their parents is a humiliation, a kind of self-imposed restriction, which will limit them. Did it have that effect upon Jesus? We know it didn’t. A young life won’t be hampered or led astray by following carefully the advice of earnest Christian parents. No young person was ever stunted, curbed or injured by obeying the implicit instructions of godly parents. Jesus obeyed his earthly parents until He was thirty years old – until He left that home to take up His God appointed work.
The obedience is to be absolute; it is to include those things, which are pleasant as well as, unpleasant. Only one key qualification is mentioned, “in the Lord”. Children are to obey, “in the Lord”. A Christian parent may require something that may seem wrong, but the child must obey. “Children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord”. (Col. 3:20) However, we must remember parents are fallible. No human authority, of any kind of degree, is binding if it bids us break one of God’s laws. If an ungodly parent demands a child to disobey the Word of God, the consequence will fall on the parent, not the child. The Bible says, “and whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe on me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea” (Mark 9:42).
Love and Respect of Parents
In all of this, we are taking for granted that parents keep before them the injunction which follows “children obey your parents in the Lord,” which is “parents, provoke not your children to wrath”. The relationship is decidedly two-sided. For an unsaved parent to demand that his children deny the Lord will bring about consequences on the parent and the children.
I know of no word that needs more greatly to be said to some of our young people than this. There is a young girl who is ashamed of her mother. She sees that her mother’s beauty has faded; her dress is not as fine as it might be; her hands are red and toil-worn. The young girl is ashamed of her mother and does not care to have her meet with her young friends who come to the house. Or the shame is directed toward the father, whose bent shoulders, tanned and weather-beaten face and crippled hands speak eloquently of years of toil and hardship that he endured so his children might have a better opportunity in life than he had. The young girl, or a young man may be ashamed to have their young friends with their fancy clothes and stylish dresses see the “old man”.
These are not cases drawn out of our imagination. We all know of many such cases. Do you not know that those marks of toil, age, care, and deprivation are marks that speak eloquently of love for you? Your mother and father received those marks in pouring out their very life’s blood for you.
Would you be ashamed of a man who only had one eye, having lost one in defense of your life? Well, your father and mother have done more than save your life. They have had broken nights and anxious days. They have cared for you in sickness. They did not consider their own comfort and pleasure, but rather denied themselves the necessities of life that you might have some luxuries. They rose early and toiled late that you might have the opportunity to study and prepare yourself for a great work in the world. That’s where those scars came from, and holy, sacred scars they are – and you are ashamed of them?
A merchant in one of our Midwest towns sent his boy to college. He had to mortgage his business in order to do so. He skimped and saved, and both he and his wife went without proper clothing in order that their son might take his place among the other students properly clothed and provided with money. After the lapse of a few months, there came into the hearts of the old couple an uncontrollable longing to see their son. They hitched the old horse to the rickety spring wagon (they would have had a car had they not given the money to their son.) and set out for the college town, twenty miles away. They arrived just as classes were letting out, and saw their boy, Harry, with a group of friends coming across the campus. As they approached him, some of his companions called out in ridicule at the old wagon and horse and the quaint clothing of the old man and his wife. Harry stopped, looked intently for a moment at his mother and father, blushed deeply and quickly turned aside and hurried off, pretending not to know them. Heartbroken, the old couple started the weary journey home, and that night the old mother died.
If these words fall into the hands of any girl or boy who is tempted to act as Harry acted, I plead with you, do not do so. If your mother and father – both, or either of them – are living, go to them, throw your arms about their necks and tell them that you love them and appreciate all that they have done for you. If they are not within reach of your arms, write them at once! Write them a long letter of love, cheer and appreciation.
A child never becomes so old that he or she is not a child to his parents. Therefore, this love and respect is to be paid to them as long as they live. Life has few things more beautiful than the devoted thought and love of a grown son or daughter to an aged parent. Such is very pleasing to the heart of God.
When our parents grow old, they exchange places with us. Once they nursed us, now it is our privilege and high honor to nurse them. Once they took the storm and protected us. Now we must take the storm and protect them. We are strong now, and they are feeble. What an opportunity to lovingly repay a part of this debt! It will only be in part, however. No child can ever fully repay the love and care of a godly parent.
Life has fewer satisfactions more intense than the thought that one has been true, kind and gentle to one’s parents in their time of need and dependence. It gives peace to the soul and makes heaven and reunion more glorious in anticipation. To be able to say “good-bye” to a parent with no regrets of lost opportunities is a blessing indeed.