Colossians 3:20-21
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The text doesn't just say "obey your parents," but "obey your parents in everything." While this doesn't mean blind obedience in sinful matters, it powerfully emphasizes the breadth of parental authority in everyday life. The real gem here is that this kind of comprehensive obedience is described as being "in the Lord" – meaning it's not just good behavior, but a way of living that reflects Christ himself.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul is laying out practical instructions for Christian living within the household, following his broader teaching on living a new life in Christ. After addressing wives and husbands, he turns to children and servants, outlining their roles and responsibilities within the family and workplace structure. This section emphasizes how these relationships, when lived out according to God's design, reflect the transformative power of the gospel.
God's Word doesn't just suggest obedience; it commands it. What does it mean for our actions to be 'well pleasing' to the Lord?
The verse presents obedience to parents as a direct pathway to pleasing God. This isn't merely about good manners or avoiding punishment; it's a spiritual discipline.
A Foundation for Faith
Paul places this instruction within the context of Christian household codes, showing how our relationships with one another reflect our relationship with God. Obeying parents, in all lawful things, demonstrates a submission to God's established order.
Pleasing God's Heart
The phrase 'well pleasing to the Lord' points to an action that is genuinely acceptable and delightful to God. This obedience, done 'in the Lord' (as some ancient texts suggest), means it's rooted in faith, love for Christ, and a desire to honor His will, not just out of duty but out of devotion.
Paul says 'in everything,' but does that mean absolutely everything? Understanding the boundaries is crucial.
The command for children to 'obey your parents in everything' is strong, but it's not absolute in a way that supersedes loyalty to God.
Prioritizing the Heavenly Father
While the instruction is broad, commentators note a crucial caveat: obedience is to extend to all things where it directly contradicts God's commands. If parents were to command something sinful, the ultimate allegiance must be to God.
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Trusting God's Order
However, the text encourages children to be very slow to invoke this exception. The well-ordered Christian home is where the principles of submission and obedience are first learned, reflecting a child-like freedom found in yielding to Christ's authority.
Understand the original words
hypakouete · Greek Verb
To hear or listen with the intent to comply; it signifies a posture of respect and active responsiveness to the instruction and authority of parents.
pateres · Greek Noun
The male parent of a child; in a biblical context, it refers to those entrusted with the spiritual, emotional, and physical stewardship of their offspring under God's authority.
erethizete · Greek Verb
To stir up, irritate, or exasperate; in a parenting context, it refers to a harsh or unfair treatment that causes a child to lose heart or motivation.
athymōsin · Greek Verb
To lose courage, become sullen, or be broken in spirit; to be cast down in mind due to external pressure or mistreatment.
This verse, part of the Ten Commandments, establishes the foundational principle of honoring parents, directly linking obedience to them with divine command.
Deuteronomy 5:16This passage reiterates the commandment from Exodus, emphasizing the promise of well-being tied to obeying and honoring parents, reinforcing the Lord's pleasure in this duty.
Proverbs 23:22This proverb speaks directly to children, urging them to listen to their parents, highlighting that their birth and upbringing are gifts from God, implying obedience is a fitting response.
Luke 2:51This passage shows Jesus Himself as a child obeying His parents, demonstrating the ultimate example of this command and its importance even in His perfect life.
Ephesians 6:1-3This passage is a near parallel, also found in Paul's letters, that expands on the instruction for children to obey their parents in the Lord, reinforcing the same ethical framework.
henryColossians 3:18-25: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord."
3:18-25 The epistles most taken up in displaying the glory of the Divine grace, and magnifying the Lord Jesus, are the most particular in pressing the duties of the Christian life. We must never separate the privileges and duties of the gospel. Submission is the duty of wives. But it is submission, not to a severe lord or stern tyrant, but to her own husband, who is engaged to affectionate duty. And…
meyerColossians 3:20: "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord."
Colossians 3:20 f. Comp. Ephesians 6:1-4 , where likewise is given a characteristic development in fuller detail of what is here only succinctly stated. κατὰ πάντα ] not to be restricted; for Paul is quoting the rule , that which holds good principaliter in the relation of children, while possible exceptional cases obviously come under the principle of obeying God rather than man (Oecumenius:…
The text doesn't just say "obey your parents," but "obey your parents in everything." While this doesn't mean blind obedience in sinful matters, it powerfully emphasizes the breadth of parental authority in everyday life. The real gem here is that this kind of comprehensive obedience is described as being "in the Lord" – meaning it's not just good behavior, but a way of living that reflects Christ himself.
Paul is laying out practical instructions for Christian living within the household, following his broader teaching on living a new life in Christ. After addressing wives and husbands, he turns to children and servants, outlining their roles and responsibilities within the family and workplace structure. This section emphasizes how these relationships, when lived out according to God's design, reflect the transformative power of the gospel.
Paul is laying out practical instructions for Christian living within the household, following his broader teaching on living a new life in Christ. After addressing wives and husbands, he turns to children and servants, outlining their roles and responsibilities within the family and workplace structure. This section emphasizes how these relationships, when lived out according to God's design, reflect the transformative power of the gospel.
"Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged." — The text doesn't just say "obey your parents," but "obey your parents in everything." While this doesn't mean blind obedience in sinful matters, it powerfully emphasizes the breadth of parental…
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Last reviewed October 2026
