Honor Your Parents

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12, NKJV.

Most Thai men spend some time as Buddhist monks, and are ordained as monks at the age of 21. It is believed that when a man is ordained as a monk it gains great merit for his parents. This belief creates a dilemma for young Thai men who want to follow Jesus. Many Thai youth ask, “If I become a Christian, then I can’t be ordained as a monk. But if I’m not ordained as a monk, how can I honor my parents?”

Some Thai men have tried to honor their parents by not being baptized until the parents give their permission. They then work at loving and doing good things for their parents to show the love of God. When the parents do give permission for them to be baptized, they include them in the ceremony to show them honor.

Still, finding a new way to honor parents is hard to do in the Thai way of looking at things. This is yet another cost that must be counted before a Thai decides to follow Jesus.

Pray that:

Northern Thai will count the cost and decide to follow Jesus.

Northern Thai believers will have wisdom and love to honor their parents in a new way that is acceptable to their parents and honoring to God.

God will call parents to be saved through the loving witness of their Christian children.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.