What is the meaning of Ephesians 6:1?

Children

• Paul addresses young ones directly, showing they are full members of the church family and personally responsible before God.

• Scripture esteems children as gifts: “Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward” (Psalm 127:3).

• God expects children to hear and respond to His word, just as adults must: “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching” (Proverbs 1:8).

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obey

• Obedience means doing what is asked, when it is asked, with the right attitude—no delays, debates, or half-measures.

• The same call appears elsewhere: “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord” (Colossians 3:20).

• Obedience is central to discipleship for all ages: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15); “obedience is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).

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your parents

• Both father and mother share God-given authority. Deuteronomy 5:16 commands, “Honor your father and your mother … so that your days may be long.”

• Even Jesus modeled this: “He went down to Nazareth with them and was subject to them” (Luke 2:51).

• The family is the first classroom where respect for all other authorities is learned.

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in the Lord

• Obedience is not merely social courtesy; it is an act of worship, done “as to the Lord” (cf. Colossians 3:20).

• The phrase also sets a limit: if parents ever demand what contradicts God, the child must follow Acts 5:29—“We must obey God rather than men.”

• Most of the time, however, parental directives align with God’s design, so children can obey with confidence that they are pleasing Christ.

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for this is right

• Obedience is morally correct because God designed the family that way. Romans 13:1-2 reminds us that all authority is appointed by God.

• It is also practically right: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

• Disregarding parents invites judgment: “The eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother will be pecked out by the ravens” (Proverbs 30:17).

• God’s promise of blessing accompanies right living: “that it may go well with you” (Deuteronomy 5:16).

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summary

Paul’s simple sentence lays out a divine pattern: children—valued by God—are to obey their father and mother. This obedience is an expression of devotion to Christ and aligns with God’s created order, bringing both honor to Him and blessing to the child.