Ephesians 6:1

Ephesians 6:1 says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.  Paul tells children to obey their parents in the Lord.  This is the key.  If the child has reached the age where they can have a personal relationship with Christ, then they should do what is right for the glory of God.  This begins by the simple act of obeying their parents.  Verse two adds, Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)  When God commanded children to honor their father and mother, this act came with a promise.  Verse three continues, That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.  Learning to obey parents leads to a better life and a longer life.  We cannot say that every child who obeys his or her parents will live a long and prosperous life here on earth, but if they do obey their parents their live will be better.  Remember also that Paul was writing this to the church, those who followed Christ in their lives.  Verse four states, And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  When telling the children to be obedient to parents, Paul here states that parents are to be obedient to God.  If parents are bringing children up in the nurturing and admonition to the Lord, then they will always want what is best for the child.  Paul does not say that parents are to treat their children as though they are unworthy of love and respect themselves.  When the family operates under the leadership of God, then every member of the family will love and respect the others.  Verse five adds, Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;  After instructing family members about how to relate to each other, Paul now instructs servants about how they should relate to their masters.  Servants are to be obedient to their masters as they are to Christ.  It is easy to hope that those who are over us, in whatever capacity, will fail, and it is even easy to attempt to cause them to fail, but as followers of Christ we are called to a higher standard.  We are to obey those who are over and us do our jobs with complete dedication, because we do represent Christ in the world.  Verse six continues, Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;  Paul expands on this requirement in this verse.  As Christians, we are not just to do our job to the best of our ability when those who are over us are watching, but we are to do it at all times because we represent Christ.  Verse seven states, With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:  We are to serve with good will, doing whatever we do as if we are doing it directly for Christ.  Verse eight adds, Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.  Paul tells us that no matter our status in life, whether bond or free, that God will give everyone their ultimate reward.  We cannot allow our status in life to affect our attitude toward our work.  As followers of Christ, we must always do everything for God's glory.  Verse nine continues, And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.  Paul tells the masters that they are not to treat their servants badly, because their Master in heaven does not respect persons.  Now, we could say that respecting those over us only applies to those who are Christian leaders, but I believe it applies to all those who are over us.  Even though this verse seems to address Christian masters, we are called to base our actions on who we are in Christ, and not on the actions of those over us.