Honor who? How? What... are you kidding me?

The David Alliance 

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TDA

By honoring another you are saying you see great value in them.

Why is it hard to honor people…? Good question. I think it is because we sometimes fear we are not as important as others… and we deserve recognition. It is not so much that they are not important… as much as we don’t feel appreciated by others, by our family, church, work or life. So it is a hard pill to swallow for many when it comes to honor others. 

 

How does honoring others help us? Well to be blunt, it helps us understand the pecking order of eternity. God is number one, those he created are number 2 and we are honoring God by honoring those he has created….

Let me put it this way…. I have always said the best way to love me is love my kids. I have had people I know, who love me, serve me, sacrifice for me… are my best of friends… and they do nothing for… but at the same time they do something for my kids - and yep… they did a lot for me by doing that. Matthew 25:40 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

 

 

1. Honor your parents.
Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land that Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12, see also Ephesians 6:2-3)

 

Let me help many of you understand how you can honor your parents… because I know many of you did not have good parents, in fact many of you would call them lousy, horrible parents…. You may even now be thinking… Im not honoring them. You have no idea what terrible people they are… ok, I can understand how you might feel that way and you are justifiably right… But here is one of the nuances of the word honor.

It is simply acknowledging the heaviness of the position one is to fill. Meaning… now as a parent I can understand how hard it is. Even if my parents were the worst… I can look at them and say with confidence “I know parenting is tough, and I am sure it was not easy all the time parenting me”. This simple way of honoring them is not agreeing to the fact that they were great people or even tried… but it does honor them in the position they had. 

Lets dumb it down… if a certain president was in power that you did not like or agree with… you might even say he is bad for our country… if you were to walk into the White House oval office… it would be honorable to shake his hand and greet him as Mr. President. In doing so you are not honoring his actions but rather his title.

 

 

 

2. Honor those who are older.
You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an older man, and you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:32)

 

Talk about an awkward time to live in. We love and honor youth. We are fascinated by being young, staying young. We worship the hip, cool and beautiful. ON TOP OF THAT our society mocks the old. We find it easy to laugh at the bent over, the technology challenged, the balding… they smell, they dress weird, they don’t understand the REAL WORLD.

Why honor the old. 

Two reasons - first, you have no idea what they have gone through. I will say it again, you have no idea what they have gone through… YOU     HAVE.   NO.   IDEA.   WHAT.   THEY    HAVE    GONE.   THROUGH.      

You may be making fun of a man stuck in a cell for 22 years for a crime he did not commit. A woman who took care of a husband who was in invalid after a stroke for 30 years… 

Second reason… as the scripture says. Honor the older generation and fear God. Let me put the correct emphasis on this verse…. Honor the elderly, AND FEAR GOD.

Meaning if you don’t honor the elderly… you are a fool and you are not honoring God. You are stupid, because if you feared God you would do just this!

A few years ago just before my Grandpa died… he was flown to the white house by President Obama as one of the last WW2 veterans alive, he was then honored by others and including a church I served at during that time… My heart glowed. I knew what he had been through… most never would. 

 

Do you want to love God good… honor others!