What honor is according to God

 Within the last 20 to 30 years, honor has not been taught as a staple characteristic to have within families, friendships, or work relationships, but especially for God or the things/people of God.  Honor is defined as a good opinion, to revere, fix a value upon, esteem, to find precious.  Everyone will honor things or people in their lives to some degree, but many will dishonor everything else out of selfishness.  God established honor, so honor must be given to what God says deserves honor.  There are elements to honor.  One element of honor is humility.  When a person humbles himself honor has an entrance into that person’s life (Proverbs 18:12, 15:33, 14:31).  Humility allows a person to think of others in a manner that lifts up while not putting down oneself as worthless.  Having this attitude allows the occasion for others to honor the humble person due to honor being given first through humility.  Not only is humility an element of honor that assists in seeing other people or things as valuable but also allows others to honor the humble person.  Humility gives and can receive honor.  Humility, when coupled with the fear of the Lord, brings riches, life, and honor (Proverbs 22:4).  Christians should give honor and be honorable to receive the promises that begin with humility. 

Wisdom is another element of honor.  Wisdom begins with fear or reverence of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7) which reflects there is an association with God even if it is not one based on salvation but only respect toward God.   This can be noted from pagans of yesteryear not living by God’s Word but still having respect or honor toward the things of God or the people of God.  Christians should have the most honor for others and the appropriate things out of any group of people in the world due to their wisdom (fear/reverence) and love for God (Proverbs 3:35, 26:1).  Honor should be present within the lives of every Christians not as a necessity, but as a characteristic that is birthed from a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Having the wisdom to know what deserves honor and what does not is an important key to life (Proverbs 4:8). 

Self-control is an element of honor.  This fruit of the Spirit from self-discipline gives and receives honor.  In these last days, there is a major absence of self-control which explains part of the lack of honor (1 Thessalonians 4:4).  Self-control reflects maturity and wisdom which is worthy to have honor given to it when working with humility and wisdom.  This element also allows holiness to be present when applied to the spiritual aspect of a person’s life.  It regulates emotions, desires, actions, and thoughts of a person’s life when used correctly.  Regulating thoughts include what deserves honor and what does not deserve honor (Proverbs 1:7,9). 

To live an honorable life the elements of humility, wisdom, and self-control must be present.  Christians should have these elements working within their lives producing honor automatically.  This is indicative when Christians lack honor in their life for others or are not worthy of honor themselves.  One must examine their life to understand which element is missing creating a lack of honor.  The concept of honor extends beyond the Christian faith for anything that is held in high respect or distinction.  Knowing what God says about honor supersedes any other model, especially in the lives of Christians.  Let us honor what God honors to be in biblical order.