The fifth commandment is the first which is concerned with our relationship with our fellow man. It is also the first commandment with promise (Eph 6:2). While the world continues to look for diets, exercise programs, and spas which can guarantee a long life, the saints understand that longevity comes from living the commandments, particularly the Word of Wisdom and the honoring of parents. The promise is that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
The punishment was just as strict for those who violated this commandment. The punishment dishonoring your parents was death, And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death…And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death (Ex 22:15,17). Again we see how the law was a very strict law (v. 29). Maybe the only reason longevity is promised for obedience to this law was because you were killed if you didn’t keep it!
James E. Faust
“I have frequently walked by a rest home that provides excellent care. But it is heart-rending to see so many parents and grandparents in that good care facility so forgotten, so bereft of dignity, so starved for love. To honor parents certainly means to take care of physical needs. But it means much, much more. It means to show love, kindness, thoughtfulness, and concern for them all of the days of their lives. It means to help them preserve their dignity and self-respect in their declining years. It means to honor their wishes and desires and their teachings both before and after they are dead….Besides being one of God’s commandments, the kind, thoughtful consideration of parents is a matter of common decency and self-respect. On their part, parents need to live so as to be worthy of the respect of their children. I cannot help wondering about parents who adopt the attitude with their children, ’do as I say, not as I do’….Children often take license from their parents’ behavior and go beyond the values the parents wish to establish.” (Ensign, Nov. 1986, pp. 9-10 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 55)