For the Sake of Honor!

Honor has played an important role in mankind’s relationship with his fellow man since the beginning of time. It is a fundamental principle that every civilized society has been built on in order to work and cohabitate together.  God, Himself, also places great importance on honor; His word tells us to:

•    Honor our father and mother (Ex. 20:12)

•    Honor our spouse (1 Pet. 3:7)

•    Honor our brethren (Rom. 12:10)

•    Have our conduct honorable among the Gentiles (1 Pet. 2:12)

•    Honor all people (1 Pet. 2:17)

These are just a few of many examples we can find in scripture.

God also says: “…[F]or those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam. 2:30).

Since God places such high value on honor (to the point that He promises to honor those who honor Him), let’s ask ourselves–are we truly honoring our God?  What about honoring our fellow man since His word tells us to?

In order to honestly look at ourselves and answer these questions, we must first define the meaning of this word.  Let’s first look at the most commonly used Hebrew and Greek words for honor in scripture.  In the Old Testament, the root word used in the fifth commandment is “kāḇaḏ” (Strong’s # H3513) which means to be heavy or weighty as in something valuable. The Greek equivalent “timē” (Strong’s # G5092) means a valuing by which the price is fixed; to be valuable.  

As we can see from the meaning of these words, to honor something is to place great value on it.  “Why is that so important and how would that change my life?” you might ask.  

Think about it this way: imagine driving to the grocery store in a very nice, expensive car on a super hot and sunny day.  Are you going to park close to the front where you won’t have as far to walk in the hot weather, but your car would be sitting out in the sun next to a cart return where there is a higher chance of your car being damaged? Or would you park your car in the back in the shade of a tree, away from other cars, and just figure it was worth the extra walk in the hot weather?  Of course, you are going to do what you have to to protect your fancy car!  

Now, what if you are driving a beat-up old junker that you don’t care about?  Well, you will probably park as close to the store as you can to save on the walking, right?  If you had to park your junker in the back, you would probably be grumbling to yourself all the way across the hot parking lot about what a burden it was to walk that far in the heat.  Even though you would have parked in the same spot with a nice car, you would have been happy to do so, and walking across the parking lot would not have seemed like a burden.  The difference is the value you have placed in your mind on the car.  When we value something, it doesn’t seem like a burden to devote our time and energy to it; but on the contrary, when something is of little importance and value to us, even the smallest amount of energy we have to devote to it seems like a huge burden. 

Let’s look at a couple of biblical examples of this.  The first one I want to turn to is the story of Jacob and Rachel in Gen. 29:18-20 “Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ‘I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.’ 19And Laban said, ‘It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.’ 20So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.”  

In this example, we can see that the seven years of hard work didn’t seem like a burden, on the contrary, they seemed like just a few days to him because of the value he had placed on her.

We can find another illustration in Mat. 13:45-46, “‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.’”

Here similarly, for this man to sell all of his possessions, it didn’t seem like a huge loss to him because of what he was gaining.

This scripture gives us a helpful perspective in answering the question of whether or not we are honoring God, and helps us to ask more direct questions:  Are we viewing our relationship with God as more valuable than our jobs, hobbies, families, and friends? What about our physical or psychological comfort? Does studying our bible seem tedious to the point where we find it hard to fit it into our busy lives each day?  Do we view the Sabbath as a burden, just a day we are restricted from doing our pleasures? What about the Day of Atonement, do we just view this day as a burden on which we are forced to go without food and water? 

We joyfully spend our time and energy on our treasures, the things we place value on.  Matt. 6:19-21 admonishes us on what our ‘‘treasures’’ should be – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

When we have God and His heavenly kingdom as our treasure, obeying Him and keeping His laws does not seem like a burden to us; on the contrary, we find great joy in them!

Now, what about honoring our fellow man? God’s Word has a lot to say on this subject as well.  If you place a high value on your fellow man by showing them honor, you are esteeming them higher than yourself. 

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4).

“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (Rom. 12:10).

Think about it…if everyone esteemed others better than themselves and looked out for their interests as well as their own, that would completely do away with all crime of any kind.  No more murder, adultery, stealing, lying, or coveting.  Everyone would be keeping the Sabbath, taking care of their parents, loving their spouses, and worshipping God alone.  People would be keeping all of God’s commandments!

Now we can start to see that when honor is adhered to by the majority of a society, the society flourishes.  Could that be the problem with the world today?  Could it be that humanity today consists of self-absorbed selfish people whose entire goal in life is to elevate themselves at the expense of others? 

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:1-4).

Doesn’t this perfectly describe the world we live in today with a generation who is devoid of any honor?  What is the outcome of such a society as this?  Prov. 30:11-17 shows us the progression of just such people. Each verse is a progression from the previous one. As we read through these verses, we can recognize each step that society has taken.

Verse 11: “There is a generation that curses its father, and does not bless its mother.”

It starts by breaking the fifth commandment by not honoring their father and mother.

 

Verse 12: “There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness.”

Once they no longer respect and value others, they begin to become self-absorbed, and puffed up with pride until they think they can do no wrong. 

Verse 13: “There is a generation–oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up.”

Once they feel they can do no wrong, any problems encountered are the other person's fault! After all, they are God’s gift to mankind! They, therefore, have the attitude that they are the center of the universe and everything revolves around them, they are now self-absorbed people.

Verse 14: “There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, And whose fangs are like knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, And the needy from among men.”

Once they feel that the universe revolves around them, they do not respect or care about anyone else, or who they have to destroy to get their way. They will do whatever is necessary to try to gratify their selfish ambitions and desires. 

Verse 15: “The leech has two daughters–Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, four never say, "Enough!":  16the grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water–and the fire never says, "Enough!" 

Once they reach this state, they will suddenly find that no matter what they try to do to gratify themselves, they will never be satisfied, which will only drive them deeper into their madness and lust-filled craze. They will end up devouring the land and everything that they had before, and they will be left with nothing.

Verse 17 “The eye that mocks his father, and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it.”

This is the conclusion of such people: they are driven on in their madness, finding no rest or satisfaction in anything until they are destroyed.

Since we can see the outcome of people who do not show honor, let us humble ourselves and be diligent to not fall into the same mindset of being puffed up with pride by not placing value first on God and then on our fellow man.

In Matt. 22:37-40 When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was?  37“Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.  39 ‘And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’”

When we truly love something, we honor it because it is valuable to us. So to keep this first and greatest commandment is to place more value and honor on God than we place on anything else! That means obeying and spending time with Him is our ultimate joy in life and is more important than anything else we might occupy our lives with.

Second to that, keeping the second greatest commandment is to place value on our parents, spouses, friends, neighbors, employers, employees, or anyone else we might come into contact with. When we value others, going out of our way to help them and treat others the way we would want to be treated no longer seems like a burden. The people in life who are truly happy and whom God blesses are the ones that are not self-focused, but instead, are always looking out for the interests of others–not to gain glory for themselves, but to truly help their fellow man.

As children of God and lights in this ever-darkening world, let this be our goal in service to our God.