Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
This is the first commandment with a promise or consequence for following it (previous ones had consequences for NOT following). If you honor your parents you will live a long life. Since it seems just about every person who has lived on the earth didn’t want to die, that’s a great blessing. Well, what does it mean to honor your parents? The footnote to honor in the LDS scriptures suggests that we must respect and value our parents. Deuteronomy 5: 12 adds that it will go well with us as well as living long.
Honoring our parents puts us in a similar frame of reference as our relationship with God. Our parents gave us our lives. Your mother gave birth to you; that took a lot of time, energy, money, and personal sacrifice. You would not exist if it weren’t for your parents. That deserves respect. Similarly, we would not exist if it weren’t for God allowing our spiritual births and providing for our physical existence through the Plan of Happiness.
If everyone were to honor their parents, there would be greater respect for others generally as well. There would be less rejection of good traditions, less teenage rebellion and rejection of good morals, more honesty, and stronger families.
