Wow, we’re already in December. Where has time flown to? All in all its been a good year and I bless God for that. I’ll be discussing the topic of honor, a topic a lot of people in my generation seem not to be familiar with. To be honest, this is something that I have struggled with and the Lord has really been and continue to work on me in this area.
What does it mean to show honor to one another? It simply means showing great respect to another person in actions, deeds and words. Honor is best illustrated by the military and is held in high esteem. Soldiers honor their seniors through saluting, standing at attention when their bosses are passing by, in their speech they speak in a polite manner and even through various other body languages. They honor their country of service by standing at attention when the national anthem is being played. I’m pretty sure that because the culture of honoring is so ingrained in them, they do honor each other as colleagues.
Why We Should Honor Each Other
As I was studying the 10 commandments, I realized that they are basically telling us what is considered honorable and what is dishonorable. The commandments require us to honor God first and each other.
I believe that God has given us the following ways in which we should honor Him through the first 4 commandments:
- You shall have no other gods before me.
- You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them
- You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy
We honor God by putting Him first before everything else. If you are engaged in idol worship both through ancestral worship or bowing before man made statues then that is idol worship and it is dishonoring the Sovereign God.
Because of the nature of God that requires order, He tells usin the 10 commandments that we should, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you (Exodus20:12).” This is repeated in Ephesians 6:2-3 that says “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” I do believe that this is deliberately repeated to serve as a reminder (and promise) to us that only those that respect their parents will live to a ripe old age. That means if you dishonor your parents, you will not live to see many days (scary,right?) I also believe that this includes honoring anyone that is older than you are in age.
However, many will argue that parents who have been cruel towards their children or abandoned their children do not deserve to be honored. God doesn’t say to only honor our parents because they are good and responsible, He commands us to honor even the parents that we think do not deserve it. Is it hard, on our own it definitely is. We are however to extend the same grace that He has given us to those who have wronged us. Husbands and wives should also honor each other
We are also required to honor ALL authority be it in the government (whether we agree or like with the leadership or not doesn’t count), at our workplaces or any other authority figure. I shudder when I see people insulting the leadership of a nation or people making meme’s meant to ridicule a political figure. We are indirectly dishonoring God by doing this. Besides, it is possible to disagree with someone without ridiculing them as is common these days.
God is such a gentleman that He honors any political leader that is elected into office because He knows that was the people’s choice. In 1 Samuel 8, we see that the Israelites demanded for a king and God gives in to their demands. He knew that the king that would be appointed would take their children as slaves but the Israelites refused to heed the warning. Therefore, God chose to honor the wish of the Israelites and gave them Saul as a king. God knows the character of all elected leaders and will often warn us. If we choose not to heed to the warning and elect the leaders, He will honor whoever we choose.
Samuel however warns them that because of their insistence to have a king, when he eventually turns against them, God wouldn’t listen to their cries (“And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”-2 Samuel 8:18). Likewise, we should submit ourselves to all authority (Romans 13:1) for this is God’s will. If God can honor the elected leader despite Him knowing their hearts, why shouldn’t we?
Likewise we should honor our bosses even though we think we are more intelligent or that we are capable of doing the job better. Ephesians 6:4-6 tells us that Servants, obey your boss. Respect him with all your heart and try to please him as you would Christ.Obey not only when he is looking at you, as if you were pleasing a man. But obey as the servants of Christ, and do with all your heart what God wants you to do. Work gladly as if you were working for the Lord and not for men.When I read this verse, it completely changed how I view my bosses. And truth be told, a lot of millennial’s need an attitude adjustment. We honor our bosses by showing up to work on time, meeting our deadlines within the required time frames, having a positive attitude at all times towards our work and each other and praying for them.
We should also honor all spiritual authority. The verse “touch not my anointed” is casually thrown around this days and people disrespect those chosen by God. If you have nothing good to say about any spiritual, please keep quiet or else you will bring onto yourself the wrath of God.
Lastly, we should honor each other. Romans 10:12 sums this up: Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
