Honor Consistently

This evening, we continue our series called “solid Ground” with the goal of establishing or reinforcing Christ-like habits that should be a part of our every day walk in the Lord. And tonight… the habit we are looking at is very important.

What comes to your mind… when you hear or think about the word honor?

First off, what is honor? Defined, honor is a showing of usually merited respect. What is meant by merited respect? Respect that is earned. Respect that is the result of honorable action.

As a culture, we give and show honor in multiple ways:

We give medals and trophies to those who have overcome in difficult competitions.

We give words of praise to those who have achieved great things despite difficult circumstances.

In fact, the more difficult the circumstances… the greater the honor. Why? Because the circumstance was not allowed to determine the outcomes.

We recognize steadfast commitment for seeing things through like through graduations, promotions, etc.

We highlight those who make tremendous discoveries or monumental achievements.

We truly believe that honor should be given when honor is due!

But honor should also be given where God commanded.

The Bible says we are to honor our mother and father.

Exodus 20:12. Ephesians 6:1-3

The Bible says we are to honor the authorities placed over us.

Romans 13:1, 1 Peter 2:13, Hebrews 13:17.

We are familiar with these commands and also familiar with the truth that in every aspect of life.... Jesus asks for more than commanded!

Uh… how does that make sense? Jesus continually instructs His followers to not stop at the surface of the command, but to look to the heart of the command. I’ve heard it said this way… what the law demands, grace expands. Jesus asks for more.

Exactly what is He asking us to do regarding honor? He asks His followers to honor everyone around us, consistently, as image bearers… those made in the likeness of God.

Remember, culturally we see honor as something earned and we are quick to determine our level of honor toward someone by what they do.

But the Word reminds us that every man, woman, and child are made in the image of God. They are fearfully and wonderfully made. Jesus gave His life for EVERY soul that has ever walked this planet! And sometimes, we fail to honor them as Christ honors them.

I often loop honor together with… encouragement. And I want to give this quick thought before we jump into the points of the message.

Our world is in desperate need of encouragement. Some of us in this room… are in desperate need of encouragement. Our culture has been trained to cancel, criticize, tear down, and to judge from afar.

Think of it… we watch people’s lives through our phones, through social media, through video outlets like YouTube, and through mainstream news. We shake our heads, we laugh in a demeaning way, we post our thoughts and condemnation. The enemy wants the world tearing itself apart.

This cycle can be broken through honoring others and encouragement!

In other words… I hope our habit is to say nice things! I hope our habit is to lift each other up! I hope our habit is to shine light… not cast shadows.

Bottom line, what and who we honor… reflects what we value. So as we talk about honoring consistently, it requires that we look at what we value the most. To honor the Jesus way instead of the way presented in the world, we must lay a foundation for choosing God’s ways and His values over our own.

And honestly… it is easy to say amen to that statement in this room tonight. But where will your honor be for the one that has slighted you? Where will your honor be for the one that comes off more as a burden instead of a blessing? They key in this is to see that person as God sees them.

So… regarding our house habit of honor… is our instinctive response to express honor toward others regularly… or do we wait until it is “earned?” If waiting is our habit… who establishes when honor is deserved?

In order to honor consistently, there are some things that must be in place. The pattern of the world is to express honor when earned… but we know Scripture instructs us to not conform to this pattern but rather to be transformed through the renewing of our minds. Then we will know the will of God.

His will is to honor. So let’s look at how we do this. First…

We Honor God

This might seem elementary but it is critical in how we express honor. This must be priority number one.

Someone might say, “Okay preacher, we got it. This one is covered, let’s move on to the next point.” But I would caution you from becoming too hasty here… for we need to know what it means to honor God.

How is it that we express honor to our heavenly Father?

Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is through intentional worship. We honor God by worshipping Him.

Praise and worship are essential in the life of the believer. Why? Because they both place God above everything else. God should be the recipient of our HIGHEST praise. I want you to read that line with me tonight… God should be the recipient of my highest praise.

Praise is exuberant expression of celebration and thanks. Praise is something observable… something people around you can see. It is an outward expression of our appreciation for God.

Worship is more intimate, it is more personal. Worship moves us into pouring our heart out to the Lord. We might worship on our knees, in the altars, or through our prayers.

Praise and worship are certainly a part of God-honoring behavior… but honoring God doesn’t stop there.... it starts there.

Honoring God MUST include obeying His Word. If we want to honor God, we will have to choose His ways over our own.

Part of this choosing means accepting the instruction found in Isaiah 55:8-9

Isaiah 55:8–9 NIV

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God’s ways and thoughts… are higher than ours. In order to fully obey the Word, we must fully submit ourselves to the ways of the Lord.

Disobedience and sin are big words that can come with a lot of baggage for many people.

They are simple concepts… and they involve our level of submission to the Lord. Jesus made clear in John 14:15 that those who love Him will keep His commandments. And truly, this can sometimes be a difficult task depending on the circumstances around us. But here’s the good news… God did not expect us to be able to do this on our own. He sent help to us to make this a daily possibility.

Look at Jesus’ exact words in John 14:15-17

John 14:15–17 NIV

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

God will helps us obey His commands through the giving of His Spirit. Aren’t you thankful tonight that our God is a giving and gracious God?

He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins… to set us free.

He gave His Spirit to be our helper in our walk and obedience to Him.

My point is: GOD IS NOT SETTING US UP FOR FAILURE! He gives all that we need!

The power of the Christian life comes from allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us. This isn’t a simple three-step process, but it begins with honoring God’s way above our own.

How can we know His way?

The Holy Spirit will guide us and… we must be students of His Word. Biblical illiteracy is on the rise in our culture and churches. God’s ways are becoming lost in our minds. We must take the time to read and apply His Word daily so that we might know His way and His will.

And there is one more thing I must give warning to… disobedience can be a real thing… but so can distraction.

The average person worldwide spends 145 minutes a day on social media. Twenty-four-hour news sells us content by telling us everything is in crisis. Work can now be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week through remote technologies.

There is always so much to do and see. There is a constant pull for our attention.

This brings me back to the first statement I made regarding honoring God. If we truly want this habit established in our lives… GOD MUST COME FIRST… ABOVE ALL THINGS.

Honoring God is priority number one. The next are of honor might surprise you… Next...

We Honor Ourselves

Alright! Now we’re talking! That’s right! Bring on the awards, heap on the compliments! But really, that’s not what I am talking about.

It may be strange to place honoring yourself before honoring others… but hear me clearly: I am not suggesting preferring yourself or living selfishly. Instead, honoring consistently starts with believing that you too… have value to God.

Sometimes people struggle to honor others because they do not fully understand the value God places on them personally. And this comes back to a previously made statement I want to repeat tonight:

We need to STOP listening to ourselves and start talking to ourselves. What is it that we need to say to ourselves? The words that God says over us!

This is NOT to bump up our arrogance or pride, but it helps us to remember that God created us, that God sees us, that God has a plan and purpose for us, that God sent His Son for us, that God wants to spend eternity with us. We need to never forget who we are in Christ!

So… who are we exactly in Jesus? John 1 does well to answer that question.

John 1:11–13 NIV

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

We need to never forget that in Christ, we are God’s sons… His daughters. We are those who have been given the right to become children of God!

This is what happens when we give our lives to Jesus!

He transforms our reality and makes us receivers of the inheritance offered to those who would believe!

It also means that in Christ, our purpose and plan become aligned with His.

Ephesians 2:10 reminds us

Ephesians 2:10 NIV

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

First off, this passage reminds us who created us. Secondly, He created us to do good works, Third, those works were designated in advance for us to do.

When we give our lives to Jesus, God doesn’t go to the drawing board and come up with a plan for you then… He has a plan for you the moment you are made!

Church… listen to me… we often project onto others… what we believe about ourselves.

God has spoken clearly regarding the high value He places on you.

Consider this… the worth of something is determined by the price someone is willing to pay for it. Jesus gave all… His life… that you might have freedom from sin. THAT IS HOW MUCH GOD VALUES US… EVEN WHILE WE WERE LIVING IN SIN!

Learning to see ourselves as God sees us will change how we see others. So as we choose to listen to His words instead of any other word… we move into our last area of honor that is simply this:

We Honor Others

And the struggle here can be real. Why? Because it is so easy to slip into the mentality that people only deserve honor when it is earned. But never forget… just as you are made in the image of God… so is every person on this planet.

James 2 does well to help us get moving in the right direction when it comes to honoring others. James cautions believers to not show favoritism.

James 2:1–4 NIV

1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

After reading this, I want us to step back and to ask why we are susceptible to treating one person differently than the their based off appearance?

First off, it is interesting that this issue… is not just an issue of today but has been around for a long time,

Secondly… we tend to favor what makes us comfortable. This “comfort” is often a reflection of what culture says… not what God says. Unfortunately, we tend to commune around what is considered socially acceptable.. instead of biblically accurate.

What’s more concerning to me here… is James describes these kind of thoughts as… evil. These thoughts are dishonoring to the Lord.

These thoughts might include:

This person deserves what they are receiving

If I were them, I wouldn’t be in that situation

That person looks to be more of a burden then a blessing

These thoughts… are lower than the thoughts of the Lord. I can tell you… God sees no one as a burden. He gave His Son in hopes they would believe in Him.

Combating these bad habits and replacing them with good require that we lay down socially acceptable trends and live by God’s truth.

And… we need to be clear in what it doesn’t mean. God is not calling us to honor sin or to enable sin.

When we honor others, we extend to them the same kind of love Jesus extended to us… while we were yet sinners.

Prayerfully, through that honor, we encourage people to break free from sin and empower new faith in Christ to come alive.

But this certainly will not happen if we play favorites instead of show honor.

Closing

It starts with God. It moves to our self. It is extended to others. We choose the habit of honoring consistently.

And if you struggle in this, we want to pray this evening.

First off… how are you doing in the area of honoring God?

Do you honor Him in praise and worship?

Do you honor Him by obeying His Word?

How strong or healthy is your relationship with Him?

If you find yourself distracted or on a detour of sorts… let’s get back on track. Let’s make the choice to get right with the Lord.

Secondly… how are you doing in the are of honoring yourself?

What words do you believe tonight? The words the world might say or the words God has spoken over you?

God LOVES you. God has a plan for you. Perhaps you have done too much listening and not enough talking.

Tonight, maybe you need to remind yourself of what the Word has to say about you. This is not for pride sake or arrogance sake… it is simply remembering that you are a child of the most high God!

Lastly… how are you doing with honoring others?

Are you an encourager… or a discourager? Do you tend to see the best in people… or the worst?

Do you identify people with their sin… or do you see them worthy of the price Jesus paid for them? That’s how god sees them.

I want us to take some time in prayer this evening regarding honoring consistently. Let’s ask for the Holy Spirit to help us break free from the world’s way and to help us embrace the Lord’s way.