Honouring our parents is one of God's principle to living aright. Honour goes beyond being just showing respect to your parents because of your admiration for them. It is knowing as well as doing that which is right; a high moral standard of behavior that has to be lived up to at all times.
To honour ones parent, is to make them proud. It is a commandment which God has given and must be followed, for in it there is longevity of days to dwell in the land gifted to us by God.
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12 (NIV)
The word parent is not limited to one's father and mother alone but to all persons through which ones life is moulded. Every persons representing the image of God in our journey through life is our parent and must be honoured. Not just by mere words of greeting but by a display of obedience and humility.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother; which is the first commandment with a promise so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.
Ephesians 6:1-3 (NIV)
Remember that a day cometh when you'll be in their shoe as a parent. So, treat your parents the way you would love to be treated (by them, your siblings as well as your offspring). Embrace them, show them love. Be obedient, with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as a child of God, doing His will wholeheartedly.
For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, He who curses or reviles or speaks evil of or abuses or treats improperly his father or mother, let him surely come to his end by death.
Matthew 15:4 (AMP)