Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

The question does not specify the age or status (that is, dependent or non-dependent) of the "child" involved.

First, I would say that the duty to love and obey God at any point in a child's life (even before the age of majority) outweighs the duty to listen to parents, if somehow the two should come in conflict (Matthew 10:37).

For adult children who are independent of their parents (and especially for Christian adults who are knowledgeable of the Bible), I would say that they should take the advice or guidance of parents (as people who presumably love them, have their best interests at heart, and have had more life experience) into account, but that they would not be biblically obligated in some way to "obey" or conform to their parent's wishes as a way of "honoring" them, especially (again) if the parent's views or desires would be contrary to other principles contained in God's word, or also if, in the adult child's judgment, the parent is wrong or does not completely understand the situation.

For children who are still in a dependent status, there would be more of a duty or obligation to listen to and/or to obey parents' wishes. To me, this would especially be true if the parent would be the one financing the child's actions, or who would be legally or financially responsible (or both) for the potential consequences of the child's actions.

Both parents and children have biblical responsibilities in their dealings with one another (Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:20-21). Love, gentleness, mutual respect, active listening, calm discussion and explanation, and compromise (when possible) can go a long way toward addressing disagreements that might arise.

July 17 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report