We understand that you're seeking peace and harmony within your family during this Thanksgiving season. Firstly, we want to remind you that true peace is found in Jesus Christ, as the Bible tells us, For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In Isaiah 9:6 WEB. It is important that we have the Prince of Peace as our focus during this season and every other time.
The family is a divine institution, created by God for our blessing and welfare. It is important to honor your father as the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:2, Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise. This directive is not contingent on your father's behavior but is a principle designed for your good and God does not specifically call out mysoginistic tendencies as an exception, for we are to honor all people in 1 Peter 2:17 regardless of how they act or what they believe.
The Bible speaks that believers are to love, pray for, and is patient, kind, and suffers long even in the face of mistreatment (1 Corinthians 13). If you can return evil with good, then you fill your enemies (this isn't a person that you hate but rather hate you or God in this case) or rather provide for those that hate you, then you will heap burning coals on their head (Proverbs 25:21-22).
We will pray for your father's heart to be softened. Let us remind you that God can change any heart. He specializes in turning hatred into love and disdain into honor and respect. 1 Peter 3 tells the wife in the same way, be subject to your own husbands, so that, even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2seeing your pure behavior in fear. Your adorning must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and putting on gold jewelry, or putting on fine clothing; 3 but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God very precious. There is no reference to a father, wife, or any gender or worshiper of Jesus being exempt. 4 For in this way in the past the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being subject to their own husbands.
The only limitation that could be made for honoring your father is if it would cause you to defy God's commands or cause you to sin against God as was the case in Acts 5:29, But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. If you are required to disobey God because of the sinful wishes or desires of your father, then you should do so according in Exodus 23:2, You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude to pervert justice.
Nonetheless, before doing so, we would encourage you to not use your omission of honor or ensure that you do not use your exemption from his request as an opportunity for the flesh as it tells us in Galatians 5:13. Do not use your freedom to engage in verbal, emotional, or psychological abuse. or to defile anyone for that matter.. To summarize you father doesn't have to be the most loving or perfect person to honor him, especially since God doesn't call us to honor them only when they are perfect or kind to us.
But, let's pray for you and this situation. Heavenly Father, we lift up this beloved and their family to you, asking for your peace to reign in their midst. Thank You that we have the Prince of Peace as Savior and Prince to those that believe in Jesus Christ and that we pray in Jesus name. This is the only way to God in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Now, may the Lord joy fill the hearts of this family, making them an authentic representation of what a true loving family should be, in order to honor God if they give thanks and honor Jesus Christ, desiring to obey all His commands. In Jesus Christ's name, we pray any demonic behavior or influence stops and God's love prevails, even if honor is due and God commands it.
We encourage you to use this time to show love and kindness and obey God, to pray for your father's salvation if he isn't a believer, for God to soften his heart and to remain faithful in your obedience to God if you are a believer, something that is taught throughout Ephesians and any other book in the Bible in how we are to answer the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:10, 'Your Kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'