{"id":15,"date":"2023-08-01T01:50:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T01:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/?p=15"},"modified":"2023-08-01T01:50:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T01:50:07","slug":"dont-forget-where-you-came-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/?p=15","title":{"rendered":"Don’t forget where you came from"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Hear, my son, your father\u2019s instruction, and forsake not your mother\u2019s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Proverbs 1:8 & 9<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

DISCLAIMER:<\/strong> If you came from an abusive background with abusive parents, go ahead and skip this. No one should ever suggest to you that anything in the Bible relating to obeying one\u2019s parents applies to abusive relationships. Parents abusing their children flies so far against the grain of normal human behavior that it creates situations where the child simply cannot do the \u201cright\u201d thing because a lose-lose scenario is being created by the parent. If this is your story, it may not seem like much, but you have a Father in Heaven and he is so totally and extremely different than what you experienced from your earthly parents. Run to Him and as your relationship with Him deepens, you can better understand how some of the verses in the Bible about parents and children relate to your unique and tragic situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We can\u2019t know for sure when this saying of Solomon was recorded, but if I were to hazard a guess I would say this is written for an adult and not a small child. The reason is the use of the word forsake (or forget) when talking about your mother\u2019s teaching. A child who is actively in their parents\u2019 care is unlikely to forget the overall teaching of their parents. A child who is grown and blazing his or her own trail is much more likely to forget. This proverb seems like it is aimed at the young man or young woman just starting out on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were raised in a functional family where your mother and father were people of wisdom who passed that wisdom on to you, this proverb is a no-brainer. If you came from any amount of dysfunction or if your parents weren\u2019t exactly known for their wise choices, you probably scoffed when you read this proverb. It may surprise you to learn about the source of this proverb. King Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest king to ever rule the Israelites may sound like a member of an ancient royal family who didn\u2019t have any struggle, but he came from a very dysfunctional family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His father was King David and his mother was Bathsheba. You may remember that Bathsheba was married to someone else before King David, but David decided to send him to the front lines of battle and keep Bathsheba for himself. This is far from functional, and if there\u2019s one thing we know in particular about Solomon\u2019s father, it\u2019s that he didn\u2019t make the wisest or best choices. So, remember who Solomon\u2019s daddy is when you think about him saying \u201chear your father\u2019s instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of us had parents that made wise choices and were good teachers. Others had parents who made crummy choices and set a pretty bad example, but regardless of the quality of the choices or the teaching, our parents represent where we came from and they also programmed our brains. So your father was a liar. That doesn\u2019t mean you have to listen to the lies, but remember where you came from. Remember what it was that made your father choose that. Remember the circumstances surrounding the choices \u2014 good or bad \u2014 that your parents made. What your parents did in difficult situations are their teachings. You can agree or disagree, but don\u2019t ever forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you came from poverty, and you grow up and get out of it, don\u2019t forget what it was like to be hungry. Don\u2019t forget how your mother handled the stack of bills. If you came from wealth and you\u2019ve sworn off of it and moved into a tiny house, don\u2019t forget the privilege of your youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your parents, flawed or perfect as they may have been, taught you how to navigate this world. Most of them did the best they could and what they helped you build and flesh out was your character. That\u2019s the garland and pendant around your neck. Character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like I said, you don\u2019t have to agree with what your parents taught you. But, consider why they gave you that lesson. Maybe they knew something you haven\u2019t figured out yet, and someday you\u2019ll pull that teaching out of your back pocket and realize they were right. Maybe not, maybe it was some bad stuff, but if you really listened to what their lives told you \u2014 you can understand what they were trying to teach you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teaching of parents is like a royal lineage. Your great-grandfather passed his wisdom down to your grandfather, who passed it down to your father, who passed it down to you. Much like that garland around the neck that was adorned on Kings in ancient times, this wisdom as passed down for generations. It\u2019s who you are, and if you want to be a better person you can\u2019t ever forget who you are or where you came from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if your family is filled with crooks for several generations and you just want to be the one person who is different, don\u2019t forget where you came from. It\u2019ll keep you from going back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your family is perfect and you have absolutely no family drama at the Thanksgiving table, don\u2019t forget where you came from. It\u2019ll keep you from wandering away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t forget what your parents taught you and don\u2019t forget where you came from. It\u2019ll keep you from becoming someone you don\u2019t want to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hear, my son, your father\u2019s instruction, and forsake not your mother\u2019s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. -Proverbs 1:8 & 9 DISCLAIMER: If you came from an abusive background with abusive parents, go ahead and skip this. No one should ever suggest to you that anything in the Bible relating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,4],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wisdom","tag-king-david","tag-king-solomon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beingsmartfordummies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}