What if My Parents Failed Me?
A Commentary on Proverbs 1:8–9 (KJV)
The Bible teaches that children should obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1) and (at all ages) honor their parents (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16, and Ephesians 6:2).
And then there is this proverb from King Solomon:
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. (Proverbs 1:8–9, KJV)
This is all well and good — if your parents loved you and cared for you.
But what about when your parents fail you?
The parent-child relationship is sacred. And I want to register my full condemnation against those parents who have taken what should be a beautiful privilege and twisted it into ugliness.
Our world is full of parents who have done tremendous damage to their children.
And God will hold them accountable.
God also will not forget those who have been hurt. And he will not forget you. We see God’s heart in these words from David in the Psalms:
When my father and my mother…
