Wise Behavior

Two Ways to Bless Your Parents

Aaron Lee | June 16, 2024 | FCBCW Children’s Worship | Proverbs 19

Introduction

How can children bless their parents? Is it by giving our parents gifts? The book of Proverbs tells us that children bless their parents by their behavior. I want to clarify my use of the word behavior. A lot of times, we think about “good behavior.” What goes missing from “good behavior” is the heart attitude. We can show “good behavior” to our parents while still not loving our parents. This would be like putting on a show – but God can see inside our hearts. I want to use “wise behavior,” because truly wise children will love their parents the best that they can. We won’t be perfect, but we’ll try our best. Let’s get started.

1. A foolish son is lazy

Let’s first examine the behavior of a foolish son. A foolish son is lazy and is not a blessing to his parents. We’ve talked about foolishness before in our series, but Proverbs 19 continually brings up one specific area of foolishness: laziness. Look at these related verses from Proverbs 19:

• A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a wife’s nagging is an endless dripping. (Proverbs 19:13)

• Laziness induces deep sleep, and a lazy person will go hungry. (Proverbs 19:15)

• The one who plunders his father and evicts his mother is a disgraceful and shameful son. (Proverbs 19:26)

Proverbs presents to us the picture of a foolish, lazy son. He ruins his father – he devastates his father’s life. The foolish, lazy son is said to plunder his father – he steals from him, he takes from him. You can see how a lazy son can do this. Some fathers will lovingly continue to provide for their lazy children – but this is not how it should be.

Application: Refuse to be lazy!

So, will you refuse to be lazy? Laziness is a real problem today because there are so many things to keep us entertained. We can avoid doing our homework or our chores and watch TV or play video games instead. Making excuses is another way to be lazy. Instead of coming when your parents call you, you say that you are busy. We procrastinate. Another way we are lazy is by doing things poorly, half-heartedly, or sloppily. You don’t put in the effort to do things well. Instead of taking our time to read and study, or practice and train, we quickly rush through things. 

God’s Word tells us that it is good to do work, and to do it well. Refusing to be lazy also has spiritual implications. It takes intention and effort to get to church on time and to evangelize. It takes work to serve, and to study God’s Word. It is hard work to persevere in prayer. It takes Don’t be lazy when it comes to your relationship with the Lord.

2. A wise son will listen

We’ll next look at the behavior of a wise son. A wise son will listen and is a blessing to his parents. We’ve talked about discipline before in our series, but Proverbs 19 continually brings up one specific area of discipline: listening. Look at these related verses from Proverbs 19:

• Discipline your son while there is hope; don’t set your heart on being the cause of his death. (Proverbs 19:18)

• Listen to counsel and receive instruction so that you may be wise later in life. (Proverbs 19:20)

• If you stop listening to correction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge. (Proverbs 19:27)

Proverbs presents to us the picture of a father who disciplines his son. Discipline means training and correcting – and the wise son will listen to his instruction.

Application: Resolve to listen!

So, will you resolve to listen? There are many voices we like to listen to. We like to listen to our friends. We like to listen to famous people. But we don’t usually like to listen to our family, namely – our parents. Sometimes we tune out our parents, or we pretend like we’re listening when we really just want them to leave us alone. God’s Word tells us that we have a lot to learn from our parents. 

Learning to listen also has spiritual implications. We sometimes rush through life without stopping to listen to what God has to say. We need to read and listen to God’s Word. We need to pay attention to sermons and Sunday School lessons as the Bible is preached and taught. We need to listen to the wisdom of our counselors and Christian friends who know and walk with Jesus.

Big Idea

Children bless their parents with wise behavior.

Conclusion

How do children bless their parents? Not by giving gifts – but by their behavior. We can bless our parents by refusing to be lazy and resolving to listen to our parents. This is wise living. In the long run, you will grow up to be a blessing not only to your parents, but to others, and to God.