The Aged
Honouring the Aged: What is God’s Perspective?
We’ve already considered honouring parents, honouring leaders, and other authority structures. Today, we are focusing on honouring the aged.
If you look across cultures, you’ll notice that different societies treat the aged differently. In many South Asian cultures, honouring the elderly is taken very seriously. In countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Nepal and India, older people are revered, listened to, and cared for. In most of these societies, aging parents live together with their grown up children and their families, elders often act as spiritual authorities and are viewed as carriers of wisdom and blessings.
In contrast, in some Western societies, the aged often live alone or are placed in hospices and care homes for the elderly. This may be okay but sometimes they are just forgotten. Reverence for the aged is not a major part of such cultures.
Now, the key question is this: How does God want us to honour the aged?
What does Scripture say about our conduct and responsibility toward them?
The Wisdom of the Aged
I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’ But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. (Job 32:6-9 ESV)
The presumption often is that age should come with experience and wisdom. However, Scripture clarifies that wisdom does not come merely from age alone.
So while age does not automatically guarantee wisdom, it often brings experience, perspective, and lessons learned over time, which deserve respect and honour.
Honoring the aged is, in essence, honoring the process of life they have survived: the sufferings, responsibilities, and seasons they have carried. If we desire long life ourselves, then we must honor those who have already walked that path.
Honouring the Aged is Fearing the Lord
You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD. (Lev. 19:32 NKJV)
The Scripture connects honouring the presence of elders with fearing the Lord. Standing up before an elderly person is an act of honour that shows you have a regard for God.
When the Bible says we should rise up before the aged and honour their presence, it simply means standing up when an aged person enters a room.
This is not a common practice in some cultures, but it is a good and biblical practice; an outward sign of honour for age.
Righteousness: An Added Advantage
In Lev. 19:32, the Bible already tells us that gray hair is something to be honored. It carries weight; it is a crown. But Proverbs 16:31 adds something: “The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.” (NKJV)
From this, we see that gray hair is honorable, but gray hair in the path of righteousness carries an extra weight: it is a crown of glory. There are aged people who have simply aged biologically, and then there are the ones who have walked in the way of righteousness.
The second group carry extra honour because they have not just lived life, they have lived well. While their age carries dignity, their righteousness adds radiance to them.
Peter also speaks of a crown of glory in 1 Pet. 5:4: “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” (NKJV).
He was speaking to the elders of the Ephesian church, exhorting them to shepherd God’s flock willingly and selflessly.
This crown speaks of spiritual authority connected to faithfulness and finishing well. It is the same crown given to an aged person when the life behind it is righteous and accompanied by obedience, endurance, faithfulness, and perseverance.
God will give them a crown of glory in the age to come, in the future, as part of their reward. Many people think this reward comes mainly through evangelism. But Scripture shows that it comes through living a righteous life; through doing God’s will consistently over time.
PREVIOUS EPISODE: HONOUR (PART 19)
Do You Honour By God’s Standards?
The Bible says: Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3 NKJV).
Turning many to righteousness is not only about preaching; it is about living in a way that draws men to righteousness over time. People who have served God faithfully for many years, who stayed on the path of righteousness and did not turn aside, will be rewarded.
The aged who remain righteous have endured. They did not give up or turn back. They did not conclude that righteousness had no benefit. Such people are pleasing to God and precious in His sight. They will be given authority, now and in the age to come.
Shouldn’t they be the ones you honour?
Instead, many people often honour wealthy or famous individuals, even if they built their names through unrighteous means. But God does not measure by money, status, or public applause. We must learn to esteem what God esteems and honour the people who God honours.
If God has a standard for honouring people, then why should we use a different standard from His?
READ NEXT: HONOUR (PART 21)
