Parents give all to their children while the young ones are dependent upon them. But as children grow, they become able to bear responsibility for themselves, and eventually they will be able and expected to make some provision for their aged parents. A selfish child, however, refuses to bear his growing share of responsibility. He wants ever to take from his parents, or to spend all he has on himself. Hypocrites will even do this under pretense of religious devotion (Matthew 15:5–9). But such self-indulgence, which denies that robbing one’s parents is a sin, is a transgression that impoverishes not only the parents, but all of society, including the self-indulgent children.
24 Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, “That is no transgression,” is a companion to a man who destroys.