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One of the biggest struggles kids have is obeying their parents. It’s never easy, and sometimes it seems impossible. Sometimes, kids struggle so much with their parents that they wish they had a different set of parents altogether.

In this lesson, the children will learn that God gave them the parents that He wanted them to have, the ones that were best suited to take care of them, train them, and help them become what God wants them to be.

Children have to do their part to help their parents do their job. How? They do their part by choosing to honor, love, and obey their parents. It’s not easy, but it is always rewarding.

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**Silly Willy:** (comes up really fast like he’s running from someone) I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it! 

**Leader** Well, hey there, Silly Willy. What in the world are you running from? 

**Silly Willy:** It’s not what! It’s who! 

**Leader** Really? Well, then WHO are you running from? 

**Silly Willy:** My neighbor. He’s really mad, too! 

**Leader** Tell us what happened. 

**Silly Willy:** OK, it all started yesterday when I asked my parents if I could have a new pet. 

**Leader** Oh, you wanted a new dog? 

**Silly Willy:** No. 

**Leader** Cat? 

**Silly Willy:** No. 

**Leader** Fish? 

**Silly Willy:** NO! I wanted an “oinker.” 

**Leader** An oinker? What’s that? 

**Silly Willy:** You know, an oinker. One of those things that goes “oink.” 

**Leader** You mean a pig? 

**Silly Willy:** Whatever. 

**Leader** So, anyway, you asked your parents if you could have a pet pig. What did they say? 

**Silly Willy:** They said, “NO.” Can you believe that? Well, I wasn’t about to take “no” for an answer, so I went out and got one anyway! 

**Leader** You mean you disobeyed your parents? That’s not right, Silly Willy! 

**Silly Willy:** Well, they shouldn’t have told me I couldn’t have an oinker! Well, I went and got my little oinker and named him “Porky.” 

**Leader** Oh, after Porky Pig? 

**Silly Willy:** Duh! So, I brought my oinker home and tried to hide him from my parents. Well, he got loose and ran over and started eating all of my neighbor’s flowers all up. I’m telling you, that oinker eats like a pig! 

**Leader** He is a pig!?**Silly Willy:** Duh! So, anyway now my neighbor is hopping mad and she is chasing me all over the place trying to get me to come clean up her garden. This is not good! 

**Leader** Well, you know Silly Willy you never would have found yourself in this situation if you had just done one thing. 

**Silly Willy:** What’s that? Bought an oinker cage??**Leader** No. If you would have just obeyed your parents in the first place and not bought that pig, you wouldn’t be on the verge of getting in such big trouble with your neighbor. 

**Silly Willy:** Well, that’s true. But, I really wanted an oinker. It wasn’t fair that they wouldn’t let me have one. 

**Leader** Have you ever thought that maybe your parents had a good reason for telling you “no?” Have you ever thought that maybe they knew something like this would happen and that having a pet pig... 

**Silly Willy:** (interrupts) OINKER! 

**Leader** ...that having a pet “oinker” was going to lead to nothing but trouble? The Bible says that we are to obey our parents no matter what. Even if we think it’s not fair, we are to love, honor, and respect our parents enough to obey exactly what they tell us. 

**Silly Willy:** Wow. I didn’t do that, did I? 

**Leader** No, you didn’t. And now you are in trouble. Was it worth it to disobey your parents? 

**Silly Willy:** Not at all. I should have just done what our Power Verse tells us to do in the first place. 

**Leader** That’s right. Now, you better run along and go do the right thing. Tell your parents you dis- obeyed and then try to make things right with your neighbor. 

**Silly Willy:** I will. Thanks for helping me learn my lesson. **Leader** You’re welcome, Silly Willy. 


Puppet Skit

Choose one boy and one girl
to play this quiz game. They will hear
descriptions of parents of famous Bible characters. Their job is to decide whose parent is being described. The team to get the most right answers wins.

Game Time

Power Verse

Today, I have prepared for you an incredible lesson. It is called “Meet The Parents.” I want to introduce you to several different sets of parents. They are all different. They represent several differ- ent types of parents out there in the world today. You might recognize some things about your own parents in some of their characteristics. And, now I would like you to “Meet The Parents.”

First, meet Parents #1 


Parents #1 walk out on stage looking very stern, upset, and frazzled

These parents are upset most of the time. They yell a lot, mainly because they have to yell over the noise their kids are making. They don’t trust their kids. They have hundreds, no thousands of rules in their house. When their kids ask to do something special, Parents #1 say the same thing every time. 


say at the same time, “NO! We can’t trust you!”

Parents #2 walk out looking like they wish they were somewhere else, obviously disinterested and bored with this

Now, these parents are very different. They don’t have any rules. They let their kids do just about anything because they really don’t care about their kids. They would rather be watching TV than watching their kids. Oh, their kids love it when their parents let them play in the street, play with fire, and even play with pit bulls. They don’t have rules. Why would they? Rules are meant to protect, and these parents really have better things to do than to protect their kids. When their kids ask if they can go somewhere, even if its dangerous, they say

say at the same time, “Whatever! We don’t care about you anyway

walk out looking happy and excited to be here

These parents love their kids. They are happy most all of the time. They trust their kids. They give their children freedom to do things on their own when it is possible. They allow their children to make some of their own choices even. They believe in their kids. Because they trust their kids, there’s only one rule in the house, “Do What’s Right.” When their kids ask them if they can do something special, they always try to make sure the child has the opportunity because 


say at the same time, “We love you and we trust you, kids.”

So, kids, now that you have had a chance to “Meet The Parents,” I want to ask you a ques- tion. If you had to choose which parents you would want, which would you choose? (allow the kids to yell out their response, understanding that some will yell out wrong answers just to get attention. Don’t even respond to those) If you are like me and like most kids in this room, you probably don’t want your parents always yelling at you, always mad, never trusting you like Parents #1, right?

Now, some of you might have thought for a second that it would be great to have parents like Parents #2 who didn’t have any rules. But, did you also notice that the reason they don’t have any rules is because they don’t care about their kids. They don’t care if they get hurt and probably wouldn’t even notice enough to rescue them if they did get hurt. They don’t care what happens to their kids. They are more concerned with themselves than they are with their kids. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a set of parents like that.
Then, we have Parents #3. They love, respect, and trust their kids. They allow them to do things because they trust their kids. And, how about that one rule of “Do what’s right?” Pretty awe- some. If I am choosing what my parents will be like from these three, I would choose Parents #3. How about you?

Now, I know what you are thinking. “What does it matter? I already have the parents I have. There’s nothing I can do about it. Nothing I do can change that.” You’re right. God has blessed us all with unique parents. Some of us live with Mom and Dad. Others of us might live with only Mom or only Dad. Still others might live with another relative or foster parents.
But, did you know that you CAN determine what your parents are like? It’s true. The way you treat them and the way you respond to them will determine how they act, respond, and treat you. If you choose to do what’s wrong or if you lie, your parents can’t trust you and therefore won’t allow you to do things you want to do. If you argue and fight with your parents, then they will most likely be on edge and irritable most of the time.
Today, I am going to give you three quick lessons from the Bible on how you can make your parents the best parents they can possibly be. Remember our Big Idea: What My Parents Will 
Be Is Up to Me. Sound good? Here we go!


Obeying your parents when you want to do things your own way is no fun. Right? Well, it might seem that way, but it is actually best for everyone . . . especially for you. Just look at what the Bible says in Ephesians 6:1: “Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.”
Now, why do you suppose God made such a big deal about obeying your parents? Because when you obey your earthly parents, you are learning to obey your Heavenly Father. And adults who obey God have the key not only to happiness but also to eternal life! Isn’t that awesome? Every time you obey your parents, you make God happy! Not only that, but every time you obey your parents you are showing them that you can be trusted. When parents trust their kids, they give them opportunities that other kids don’t get. They let you make some of your own decisions because they know they can trust you. We must obey everything our parents say.

Children who obey their parents have parents who trust them. You want parents who trust you? Obey them. Remember: What My Parents Will Be Is Up To Me!


The Bible says in Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God will give you.” That’s a really cool promise. I don’t know about you, but I want to live a long, full life.
So, how do you “HONOR” your parents? You honor them in the way you talk to them. We must not talk to our parents with a disrespectful tone. When things don’t go our way, we must not scream, yell, and fuss about it. That’s not honoring our parents. That’s dishonoring our parents.
You also honor them in the way you act toward them in public. Don’t argue with them, that’s dishonor. When you obey and respect them in public, that shows them honor. Not only in public, but we must honor them in private as well.
When kids show honor to their parents, their parents are happy. They are much more easy- going. Want your parents to be that way? Remember: What My Parents Will Be Is Up To Me!

This might seem simple, but it’s not. Many children don’t love their parents. Sometimes it is because they feel their parents aren’t fair. Sometimes it’s because their parents have hurt them in some way. Sometimes it is just because the kids are selfish.
We must understand that the parents we have are a gift from God. They are OUR parents. God placed us in their care. We must show love to them. Not only show love to them, but TELL them that we love them. How can you show and tell your parents you love them? Write them a note, make them a card, give them a gift. The very best way is to walk up to them, give them a big hug, maybe even a kiss on the cheek, and say, “Mom, I love you.” Or, “Dad, I love you.”
When you show your parents love, they can’t help but show love back to you. We all need love. We all want to be loved. So, let’s show love to our parents. Let’s honor our parents. Let’s obey our parents. If we will do that, we will have the kind of parents we want. Remember: What My Par- ents Will Be Is Up To Me!

Have each child pray for their parents out loud. Have them pray that God will help them to be the kind of child who loves, honors, and obeys their parents so that their parents will be able to be the kind of parents God wants them to be.

Illustrated Message

Review Questions

What did Silly Willy want his parents to give him? **Answer:** *a pig (or an “oinker”)* 

What did the pig end up doing that got Silly Willy in trouble? Answer:** *ate his neighbor’s flowers* ?

According to our lesson today, can we help shape what kind of parents we have? **Answer:** *yes, by doing what the Bible says*?

The first thing we learned is that we should __________ our parents. **Answer:** *Obey* ?

The second thing we learned is that we should ____________ our parents. **Answer:** *honor*

The third thing we learned is that we should ____________ our parents. **Answer:** *love* ?

What was today’s Big Idea? **Answer:** *“What My Parents Will Be Is Up To Me!”* ?

True or False: It is always easy to obey and honor our parents.  **Answer:** *False*?

Is God pleased when we disobey our parents? **Answer:** *no* ?

What was today’s Power Verse? **Answer:** *“Children, obey your parents...for this is the right thing to do.” * **- Ephesians 6:1** 

Review Questions

At Home

**The Big Idea: What My Parents Will Be Is Up To Me!**

**Power Verse:  “Children, obey your parents... for this is the right thing to do.” Ephesians 6:1**

Have you ever heard the phrase, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy?” To some extent, that’s true—children’s lives are usually better and happier when their parents are happy. And children can help their parents stay happy by obeying, honoring, and loving them.

Pretend you’ve just had one of the worst days of your life. You have a group project due in science, and you friend didn’t do her part. One of your best friends calls and talks to you rudely, accusing you of things you didn’t do. Not once during the day did any of your friends say anything nice to you or do anything nice for you; in fact, they ignored you completely.

• How would you feel by the end of the day?

• How easy or hard would it be for you to treat other people nicely How would you feel by the end of the day?

• How much would you want to be around those friends if they kept treating you like that?

Now think about a similar day in you parents’ lives. You leave for school, and they find out you didn’t do any of the chores they’d asked you to do. When they ask you about it after school, you roll your eyes and say rude and sarcastic things about how they’re never fair and none of your friends have parents who make them do chores. For the rest of the night, you ignore your parents and act like they don’t exist.

• How do you think your parents would feel?

• How easy or hard would it be for them to treat you nicely after you treated them the way you did?

• How much time do you think they’d want to spend doing fun things with you if you kept treating them like that?

• What do you think your life would be like if you always treated your parents that way?

Parents, explain to your children that while you’re an adult and their behavior doesn’t control your behavior, it’s much easier for you to want to do nice things for them if they’re obeying you and showing you honor, love, and respect. On the other hand, if they continually talk back, disobey, and disrespect you, it’s harder for you to want to be kind and do nice things for them.

Read the following verses aloud and discuss the questions.

**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.”

**Deuteronomy 5:16** - “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that...it may go well with you.”

**Ephesians 6:1** - “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”

• Since the verse in Exodus is one of the Ten Commandments, how serious do you think God is about children obeying their parents?

• Why should you obey your parents?

• What are the good things the Bible says will happen if you honor and obey your parents?

• In everyday life, what are some of the good things that happen when you obey and honor your parents?

Tell your children that by obeying, honoring, and loving you, they not only are pleasing God, but they’re learning how to obey, honor, and love Him, too.

Pray for your children, asking God to help them learn to obey, honor, and love you and also asking Him to give you wisdom as you parent your children.

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