I guess my question is Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.<\/em>” This seems to suggest this idea of leaving the household and the authority of your parents and establishing a new household. It seems similar to the idea that when believers die they immediately go into heaven (II Corinthians 5:8) in that there is no “middle” stage. Do you interpret Genesis 2:24 to suggest that (ie., is that what you mean in your response when you say “There comes a time in every person’s life when they leave their parent’s household to establish their own [household]. When that is done, the parent no longer can tell the departed child what to do.”)?<\/p>\n\t A child is living in his parents’ home and his parents are responsible for his actions. They, therefore, rightly direct his life because he is unable to make his own decisions.<\/p>\n Wise parents know a child will soon be on his own, so the responsibility is gradually extended to make his own decisions in many areas of his life. They are still there to guide and can overrule if a major mistake is about to be made. Sadly, not all parents are that wise. However, notice that it isn’t an on\/off situation. There is a middle stage of a gradual loosening of the reigns.<\/p>\n Once a child is an adult, then he should be making his own decisions and is responsible for the consequences of his actions. But that means if he, for example, wants to attend a different college than his parents prefer, then they can rightly decline to fund his education and he must then assume responsibility for the payment of his education. When a person is receiving support from another, he loses some control over his choices. “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender<\/em>” (Proverbs 22:7).\u00a0 When a person lives in another person’s home, he shows respect by abiding by that person’s rules.<\/p>\n If you want to be totally responsible for your own life, you have to shoulder all the cost of living. It goes hand-in-hand. You’ll be finding your own place to live, buying your own food, and deciding where you want to work. When you are in that state, your parents can advise, but they have no hold over your life. You have left home and established your own.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I guess my question is Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This seems to suggest this idea of leaving the household and the authority of your parents and establishing a new household. It seems similar to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1509],"class_list":["post-38250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-parents"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43048,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-need-my-parents-approval-to-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":38250,"position":0},"title":"Do I need my parent’s approval to get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If I could, may I inquire about marriage and when you should be honoring your mother and father? To be specific, is it a sin against God to marry someone if the approval of your parents is not met? The reason I begin to ask is that my fiance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30783,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-daughter-at-18-go-to-college-without-her-parents-permission\/","url_meta":{"origin":38250,"position":1},"title":"Can a daughter at 18 go to college without her parent’s permission?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Would it be a sin to move out at 18 despite your father telling you that you will leave only when he approves? I know a father who will not allow his daughter to leave home until she is married. However, she is mainly confined to her house when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1710,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/honor-your-father-and-mother\/","url_meta":{"origin":38250,"position":2},"title":"Honor Your Father and Mother (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The command to honor your parents was carried over into the law of Christ intact. \"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. \"Honor your father and mother,\" which is the first commandment with promise: \"that it may be well with you and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43658,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-mother-thinks-im-too-young-to-get-married-must-i-obey-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":38250,"position":3},"title":"My mother thinks I’m too young to get married. Must I obey her?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, I am 21 years old, born again and spirit-filled. I'm currently in a relationship with a Christian sister, who is also born again and Spirit-filled. She is 18 years old. Though our relationship is based on the Word of God, we have the don't and the do's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15900,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-mention-joseph-providing-for-his-father\/","url_meta":{"origin":38250,"position":4},"title":"Where does the Bible mention Joseph providing for his father?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I heard a preacher say that\u00a0Joseph told his father when he was reunited with him in Egypt to not\u00a0worry, that he would provide for him all the days of his life.\u00a0 I am unable to find that scripture. Do you know if he did say that and if so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29496,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-adults-need-to-honor-their-parents-by-obeying-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":38250,"position":5},"title":"Do adults need to honor their parents by obeying them?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your take on the commandment\u00a0Honor thy father and thy mother and noticed that you used the word \"child\" and \"children\" quite a few times. So is your interpretation\u00a0to obey isolated to children who have not reached independent legal adulthood or does it imply that even the adults\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n