Honoring your parents is one of the clearest commandments in the Bible, yet it’s often one of the most misunderstood or overlooked. It goes beyond obedience during childhood. Honoring your father and mother is a lifelong call to show respect, gratitude, and care, even when it’s not convenient or easy. The Bible doesn’t present this command as optional. Instead, it is woven into the very foundation of godly living. It is the first commandment with a promise attached: that things may go well with you and that you may live long on the earth.
But what does honor mean? Is it blind agreement? Is it simply providing for aging parents? The Bible helps us see that honoring our parents is about heart posture, not just action. It’s about listening, serving, forgiving, and loving even when generational differences cause tension. God uses this relationship to train us in humility, grace, and submission—not just to human authority, but ultimately to Him.
Whether you had a nurturing upbringing or endured painful experiences, the Bible still calls us to seek ways to honor, even if that looks like setting healthy boundaries wrapped in grace. These verses help us grasp the depth and beauty of God’s call to honor our parents.
Bible Verses About Honoring Your Parents
1. Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
2. Ephesians 6:2–3
Honor your father and mother—which is the first commandment with a promise—so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.
3. Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
4. Proverbs 1:8–9
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
5. Deuteronomy 5:16
Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you.
6. Proverbs 6:20
My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
7. Matthew 15:4
For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’
8. Leviticus 19:3
Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
9. Proverbs 23:22
Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
10. Proverbs 20:20
If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
11. Matthew 19:19
Honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.
12. Exodus 21:17
Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.
13. Deuteronomy 27:16
Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother. Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
14. Mark 7:10
For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’
15. 1 Timothy 5:4
But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family.
16. Proverbs 30:17
The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley.
17. Luke 18:20
You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’
18. John 19:26–27
When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
19. Genesis 47:12
Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.
20. Proverbs 13:1
A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.
21. Exodus 18:7
So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent.
22. 2 Timothy 3:2
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.
23. Genesis 9:23
But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body.
24. 1 Kings 2:19
When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne.
25. Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
26. Ruth 1:16–17
But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay…”
27. Proverbs 17:6
Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.
28. Hebrews 12:9
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.
29. Sirach 3:5–6 (Deuterocanonical)
Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children, and when they pray they will be heard.
30. Sirach 3:12–13 (Deuterocanonical)
My child, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he lives.
31. Job 29:8
The young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet.
32. 2 Chronicles 34:1–2
Josiah was eight years old when he became king… He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David.
33. Proverbs 15:20
A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
34. Isaiah 46:4
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
35. Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Honoring Your Parents
The command to honor your parents is about much more than following rules—it’s a sacred invitation to live in alignment with God’s design for family and community. God uses the parent-child relationship to model His authority, His discipline, and His tender love. When we honor our parents, even in imperfection, we reflect God’s grace. For some, this is a joyful task. For others, it may require deep healing and surrender. Still, Scripture calls us to honor because it produces blessing, order, and generational strength. It teaches humility and provides a foundation for respecting all forms of authority. Even as adults, we are called to show gratitude, care, and compassion toward those who gave us life. Whether your parents walked in righteousness or caused you pain, God can help you find a way to honor them that brings healing and peace to your own soul.
Say This Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of my parents. Teach me what it truly means to honor them, not just in word, but in heart and action. Help me forgive where there has been pain, and show me how to love with wisdom and grace. Let my life be a reflection of Your honor and peace. Even when it’s hard, give me the strength to walk in obedience to Your word. Bless my parents, guide them, and surround our family with Your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.