"Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD." ~ Leviticus 19:32
"The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." ~ Proverbs 16:31
What is a hoary head? "Hoary" very simply means "grayish white". So, a hoary head is someone elder, one whose hair is more than likely some version of "hoary" :) We have several of these in our church, not to mention all of our individual grandparents in our families.
God has a lot to say about the younger generation honoring the older generation. Why do you think God said "children, obey your parents in the Lord..."? It is because He knows that respect is something we either learn or don't learn as young children. It's not impossible for an older teenager/a young adult to learn respect, but it is much, much harder at that age.
Remember once we were talking about basic manners? I shared with you that it is respectful for you to greet an adult first. Do you ever do that? Or are you always in your own little bubble and only speak to an adult when they speak to you?
The simple act of greeting an elder person with a friendly "hello Mrs. ______" pays them a great honor. So often the older generation is left to themselves; yet what great wisdom lies within their hearts, waiting for us to draw it out of them with meaningful questions - "Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out." ~ Proverbs 20:5
Maybe you've never thought about these things before - and that's ok! Good manners and social graces are things we sometimes think of as part of "the olden days", but most of them are actually based on Biblical principle, and are thus things that we should make a normal part of our everyday life.
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Bible Reading: Proverbs 6
Raised in the deep South, it was expected that a child answer with "yes, ma'am, no ma'am, yes sir, no sir". It was part of the training that was instilled in my generation. It didn't matter that my parents were not Christians; respect for adults in general wasn't negotiable. Too many times we hear the phrase, "respect must be earned", and while that is true, respect for an adult for no other reason other than because they are an adult is God-honoring.
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