Filial Duty
W. Clarkson Proverbs 28:24 Whoever robs his father or his mother, and said, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer.… These words may be taken not only as condemnatory of filial wrong, but as suggestive of filial obligation. We look first at - I. THREE FORMS OF FILIAL WRONG. 1. Culpable carelessness. Doing things or leaving them undone, so that the money of parents (which, perhaps, can ill be spared) is wasted. 2. Unconscientious appropriation. Which may ascend from picking out of the pet or taking from the cupboard up to a serious appropriation of property. 3. Unprincipled involvement. Either in the form of (1) contracting debts which (it may be well known) will have to be paid out of the father's purse; or, what is still worse (2) following an evil course of conduct which will discredit the family name and rob it of its honoured and prized reputation. II. ITS GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD. They who do such things may justify them to their own minds; they may say to themselves, "It is no transgression; what is our parents' is our own;" but this is not the light in which it shows to Heaven. It is not only the wise man. but the Son of God, who has affixed his solemn condemnation to filial shortcoming (Matthew 15:5). Undutiful conduct toward parents is a very heinous sin. 1. It is in most distinct violation of the Divine command (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 27:16; Matthew 19:19; Ephesians 6:1, 2; Colossians 3:20). 2. It is a wrong done to those who, in virtue of their relationship, have the strongest claim upon us. 3. It is a sin against those who have spent on us the most patient, sacrificial love. To rob them to whom we owe more than we can owe any other human being is an aggravated offence indeed. It is well to consider - III. THE TRUE FILIAL FEELING. A true son, who realizes what is due to his parents, will not only shrink from taking the advantage which his father's trustfulness places in his power, but he will consider how he may make some return for all that he has received at his parents' hands. And he will understand that this is to be rendered by: 1. Responsive affection. 2. Prompt and cheerful obedience. 3. Ready acquiescence in those things which are beyond his reach; docility and submissiveness of spirit. 4. Practical willingness to share the burdens of the home. Thus he will lighten the labour and brighten the lives of those who were the first, and will perhaps be the longest, if not the last, W love him. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer. WEB: Whoever robs his father or his mother, and says, "It's not wrong." He is a partner with a destroyer.