Episode Transcript
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Audrey (00:00):
Hello friends, welcome
back to Grace From my Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I amso blessed to be back with you
again this week.
I hope that you're enjoyingyour summer.
We are.
We're going on vacation nextweek my whole family and I'm
looking forward to that.
I don't know how many moreyears they'll they'll go with us
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.
I hope it's forever, but youknow, things change.
So I'm looking forward toanother vacation with my husband
and my three boys.
We're leaving Sunday afterchurch, so I'm recording this a
little early this week because Idon't want to miss a week, but
I want to be able to concentrateon them and have fun while
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we're on vacation.
We're going to a theme park anda water park because that's
their thing.
They love that.
It's not my thing, but theylove that, and so I'll go with
them and probably hold thingswhile they're on the roller
coaster.
And who knows, I might evensurprise everybody and get on a
roller coaster this year.
We'll see.
That would be a shock.
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I can't even ride in the carwithout getting car sick.
But this week I wanted to sharewith you why I teach my children
to honor and respect authority.
God is the source of allauthority.
He is the head of all authority.
He is over all things, allpeople, and he sets up authority
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.
He gives authority to those whohe chooses.
He's very clear.
He's very clear in the Bible,in his word, that we are to
honor and respect authority.
It's so important to him thathe even put it in the Ten
Commandments we are to honor ourmother and our father, our
parents, and so God sets thestage early in life.
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This is how you treat authority.
You honor authority, yourespect authority, and so it's
that important to God, and Ijust want to talk with you a
little bit about that today,because when you start talking
about authority, sometimes redflags go up.
People have to deal with issues,they have to deal with things
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because, though God establishedauthority and it's a God thing
and it's a good thing many of ushave been hurt by authority.
We've had experiences that werenot ideal.
God gives authority to peopleso that they can protect,
provide for, bless, instructthose who are under their
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authority, but when thatauthority is lost, misused and
the person who is in authorityand ends up hurting or harming
the person that's under theirauthority, rather than
protecting and blessing, a lotof things happen.
A lot of things get turnedupside down.
First of all, that person whomisused authority.
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That person is going to have toanswer to the Lord.
God takes it very seriouslywhen we misuse the authority
that we've been given.
And then the person who hasbeen abused or been mistreated
or done wrong by authority.
That person has to deal withtrust issues when it comes to
authority, and a lot of timesthose trust issues are directed
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right back towards God becauseour concept of authority goes
all the way back up to God, andthat's why it's so important for
us, as parents, to representGod well, and that's a high
calling.
It doesn't mean that we have tobe perfect.
It just means we have toremember that God tells us to
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teach our children to honor andobey us, and one of the reasons
that he does that is becauseyour child's concept of
authority a lot of it's going tobe based on your relationship
with your child.
Now the good news is that Godis a loving and forgiving God.
He is gracious andcompassionate.
So when we mess up and we allhave we have an advocate with
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the Father Jesus himself, and hewill forgive us if we confess
our sins and he will help us,and you know, he wants to teach
us, he wants to show us the way,and so when we mess up, we
repent, we go to the Lord.
He forgives us and he gives usgrace.
He helps us to do better.
The other wonderful thing is,when we've been abused by
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authority, when we've been hurtby authority and we have a bad
concept of authority, there ishealing.
There is healing.
You know, one of the wonderfulthings about us, about the way
God made us, is that we arereprogrammable.
Now, I grew up in an alcoholichome and my idea of authority
was I just wanted to get awayfrom authority.
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You know, authority to me wasnot there to protect or to
encourage or, to you know,provide for.
Authority was just in charge.
There's people who are incharge and they just want to,
you know, they just want to be,be in charge, and they don't
have my best interest in mine,and so I didn't want anything to
do with authority.
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And when I came into the kingdom, when I became a Christian and
I came to know the Lord and Istart learning about authority
and I start learning about theway relationships are supposed
to work, it was kind of like Iwas looking at it from a from.
There was like a glass betweenme and the things I was reading
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in the Bible.
It was like I'm on one side ofthe glass.
This is my reality and I see it.
But there's something thatthere's something between me and
where I think I'm supposed tobe going, and I can't get there.
And it's because I had set upthese beliefs in my mind and my
heart to protect me from everbeing hurt from authorities
again, and I didn't even knowthey were there.
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You know, and as I work throughthose, you know God says to
renew your mind in the word.
And as I work through mybeliefs and what I thought about
authority and how I respondedto authority, you know I made
progress.
But then, when I became a parent, I had to go a different, I had
to go deeper.
There were all different levelswhere I thought that you know I
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was free of these thoughts,these patterns of behavior.
I thought, you know I am freeand you know God has healed me.
But you know there's alwaysmore work to do.
You know, the deeper we, butthere's always more work to do,
the deeper we go, there's alwaysmore work to do.
And when I became a mom and Ihad to start teaching children
how to respect and honorauthority.
There were many areas where theLord kept putting his finger on
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my heart and said well, audrey,do you do this?
Are you honoring and respectingauthority?
And he showed me clearly.
You know, one of the thingsthat keep us from God is our
concept of authority.
Depending on how we grew up,really affects whether we run to
God or we run from him.
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And because I had such anegative connotation of my
father of authority, I reallystruggled to believe that God
wanted the best things for me.
I thought, you know I can goout and find the best things
instead of coming to God andreceiving the best things,
because how do I know he's notgoing to hurt me?
How do I know that I can trusthim?
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And so, as we walk with theLord and he renews our mind and
he shows us, I'm on your side.
You know, the things I'mtelling you to do are not just
because you know I'm on a powerkick.
I want to help you, I want togive you the best life possible
and I made you and I know whatyou need.
And I want to tell you today,in case you need to hear that
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God made you, he loves you andhe knows what you need and he
wants to get that to you.
But if you have been hurt byauthority, if you've had issues
with authority in the past, thenit takes a while to get that
through to ourselves that I cantrust Him, that he's not going
to hurt me.
And so, as I started, I wantedto be a good mom.
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I wanted my children to have agood concept of God.
I'd seen where my childhood hadcaused me to run from God
instead of to him, and so, as Istarted growing in the Lord and
having children, I so wantedthem to see God for who God
really was, and I was justtrying to figure out who God
really was myself.
So we were learning together,trying to figure out who God
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really was myself.
So we were learning together,and one of the things that the
Lord started showing me was youknow, teach these children to
honor and respect authority,because authority is from God.
And this is so practical, guys,this is so everyday.
You know it's not pie in thesky.
You know, one of the things theLord kept putting his finger on
is how do you talk to yourhusband in front of your
children.
How are you responding inrelationship with your husband?
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Because sin destroys, it tearsapart, it divides.
Have you ever noticed that?
You know we live in a fallenworld and one of the areas that
sin really destroys isrelationships.
There's a lot of things thatsin does in the world we live in
today, but one of the worstthings is it destroys
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relationships and it dividespeople and separates people
instead of bringing themtogether.
And so the relationships.
They're so important, ourrelationships are so important,
and when my children wereyounger, the Lord would often
remind me speak to your husbandin front of your children, the
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way you want them to speak totheir mate, to their wife, when
they have their own family, andthat you know that's and that is
good wisdom.
Right there you create the kindof home that you want your
children to go out and look for,and the Lord would remind me
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speak to him with respect, notbecause you're afraid of him
it's not about that Not becauseyou're beneath him, but because
you love him and you want yourchildren to live in a home where
we're for each other.
We got each other's back, youknow we're on each other's team,
and so that when they go outand they meet people and they're
looking for their future mate,then they will have a good
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example.
Does that mean they're notgoing to make mistakes?
No.
Does that mean you're divorceproofing them?
No, it just means if you don'thave a good example, then how do
you know you found somethinggood?
So I found that teaching mychildren how to honor authority,
or what it means to honorauthority, started at home.
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It started within the family.
That authority that's set up byGod in the family was where I
started.
That was our starting point inshowing that a family that is
honoring God, that's loving eachother, then there's harmony
there and that's a good place tobe.
You know authority is a goodthing.
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Parents are there to help me.
Parents are there to love me.
Parents are there to correct mebecause they love me.
You know this all goes back torelationship.
My authority is received betterfrom my children when I have a
strong relationship with them.
You can only correcteffectively to the level that
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you have built.
The relationship that is whenthey listen is when they know
your heart, they know you carefor them, they know that you
want the best things for them.
Then their hearts are more opento the things you have to share
, to the things you have to do,to the correction and discipline
that sometimes you have tobring.
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Another way I taught my childrento respect and honor authority
was the way that we talked aboutauthorities in our home.
We did not down or bashauthorities.
You know you have to thinkabout these things.
Your children are like sponges.
They're looking to you tofigure out how to live, how this
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world works, and what'sappropriate and what's not
appropriate.
You know, when you come homefrom church, don't bash the
pastor.
Same thing with school.
You know how do you talk aboutthe principal?
How do you talk about yourkids' teachers?
You know, does it mean that youput them up on a pedestal like
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they can do no wrong?
Does it mean that at all?
It just mean that you put themup on a pedestal like they can
do no wrong.
It doesn't mean that at all.
It just means that you treatthem with honor and respect.
Another area is how you talkabout those who are in
leadership in your community, inyour state, in your nation.
I remember years ago, when mykids were very small, we had a
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birthday party for one of them.
I don't remember which one, buta person who came to the
birthday party saw that on therefrigerator we had a photo of
the president, the currentpresident at that time, and I
won't tell you who it was, itdoesn't matter, but we had a
picture of the president andthis person did not vote for or
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like that current president andthey wanted to know why on earth
do you have that person on yourrefrigerator?
And I said, well, every morningwe pray for the president when
we put we, we take a minute, we,you know, put our hand on that
picture and we pray and ask Godto give the president wisdom, to
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protect the president and hisfamily, help him to make good
decisions for our nation.
And that person was justappalled that we would have a
photo of someone they didn'tbelieve was a godly person and
didn't believe in what theybelieved in.
What had that on ourrefrigerator?
Now, I didn't vote for thatperson, but the Bible says to
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honor those who are in authority.
Actually, let's read thattogether.
Let's read that scripture.
There's two scriptures that Iwant to read to you.
In 1 Timothy 2, verses 1 and 2,it says I urge you then, first
of all, that petitions, prayersand intercession and
thanksgiving be made for allpeople, for kings and all those
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in authority, that we may livepeaceful and quiet lives in all
godliness and holiness.
And then another scripture isRomans, chapter 13.
Now, this is a longer passage,so bear with me.
It says let everyone be subjectto the governing authorities,
but there is no authority exceptthat which God has established.
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The authorities that exist havebeen established by God.
Consequently, whoever rebelsagainst the authority is
rebelling against what God hasinstituted, and those who do so
will bring judgment onthemselves, for the rulers hold
no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.
Do you want to be free fromfear of one in authority?
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Then do what is right and youwill be commended.
For the one in authority, thendo what is right and you will be
commended, for the one inauthority is God's servant for
your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraidfor rulers.
Do not bear the sword for noreason.
They are God's servants, agentsof wrath to bring punishment on
the wrongdoer.
Therefore, it is necessary tosubmit to the authorities, not
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only because of possiblepunishment, but also as a matter
of conscience.
And I want to stress to youthat Paul wrote this.
This epistle to the Romans waswritten by Paul and the Romans
executed Paul and when he wrotethis, when Paul wrote this, the
emperor at that time was EmperorNero, and if you've studied or
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heard anything about Nero, youunderstand he was not a good
person, he was not a godlyperson, he was wicked.
But Paul is still saying prayfor your leaders, respect and
honor authority.
They hold a position given tothem by God and there is a
blessing that comes on us whenwe honor authority.
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Now I may have just said somethings that really rubbed you
wrong, and that's okay.
That's okay.
We can agree to disagree onsome things, right.
But the Bible also says to bewise as a serpent and harmless
as a dove, and I want mychildren to be wise Now.
I want them to know thatauthority is not always correct.
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Authority is not always lookingout for their best interest.
I mean, that's just the way itis in this fallen world that we
live.
But I am looking out for theirbest interest and God is looking
out for their best interest,and God tells us to respect
authority and that doesn't meanwe have to agree with them or
even always obey them, but evenin our disobedience, we can show
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honor and respect.
You remember the story ofNebuchadnezzar and the three
Hebrews?
The command was when the king,when the music was played,
everyone was to bow down andworship the golden statue that
Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
And when the music was played,these three men refused to do so
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, which was right.
They refused to bow to an idol.
They only worshiped the God ofAbraham and Isaac and Jacob.
And so Nebuchadnezzar was angryand called them before him and
said who are you to disobey me?
And they were still respectfulin their behavior.
They said respectful in theirbehavior.
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They said oh king, live forever.
We will not bow, we will not dothis thing.
It is not right.
I'm paraphrasing here.
Bear with me.
And they didn't obey the king'sedict, but they still treated
him as the king.
And that's what I'm saying.
There is a blessing when weteach our children.
Authority is not always right.
Often they're wrong, but thatdoesn't mean that we have to
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bash them.
It doesn't mean that we have totear them down.
We're actually commanded topray for them.
But even in our disobedience,even if what the authority in
our life is asking us to do doesnot line up with God's word and
we decide it's better for usnot to obey, then we can still
do that with respect, andthere's a blessing in that.
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You know this isn't taught muchthese days.
Everything right now seems tobe so divided, but we don't have
to enter into that division.
We can be peacemakers, notpushovers.
I'm not talking about beingpushovers.
We can decide that we're goingto hold strong convictions and,
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at the same time, we're going tobe respectful for others who
have different opinions, eventhose who are in authority over
us Doesn't mean we have to votefor them, doesn't mean we have
to sing their praises, but itdoes mean that we have to have a
certain amount of civility,because as we teach our children
to obey and honor authorities,we're teaching them ultimately
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to honor God and to obey him,and that starts with obeying and
honoring your mother and father.
That's what we teach them to do.
And then we teach them to obeyand honor those who are over
them in authority, and we teachthem when is the right time to
not obey, when is the right timeto say no, I can't do that.
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This is ultimately teachingthem wisdom, and we need some
wisdom.
You know we need wisdom and ourchildren need wisdom and how to
walk in this world, how to bein this world but not of this
world, how to be peacemakers ina time when there's not a lot of
peace.
So I share this with you today.
I hope and pray that it's ablessing and that it's helpful.
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At least gives you something tothink about and I want to say
thank you.
Thank you for coming andlistening again this week.
I hope and pray you have agreat week.
I do want to ask a favor of you.
If this podcast is encouragingto you, if it's been a blessing
to you in any way, would youplease go to wherever you listen
to podcasts whether that'sApple Podcasts or Spotify,
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wherever you listen and give mea five-star rating and maybe a
good review.
That will help other people seeif this is something, if this
is a podcast, that would behelpful for them and I would
greatly appreciate it.
Also if you could share it witha friend, even on Facebook.
If you have a community onFacebook and they're looking for
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good, encouraging Christiancontent, I would be so honored
if you would share it with yourgroup.
God bless, have a great week.
See you again next week.