Honor One Another
Honor One Another.
“Take delight in honoring each other.” (Romans 12:10, NLT).
Honor: show deference to; to prefer over one’s self; to highly esteem; to greatly respect; to revere; to focus on the importance of another.
a. Honoring someone goes beyond mere respect. To honor another person is to revere that person because that person is made in the image of God, that person has God’s breath animating his/her life. We honor all people that way, for that reason. We honor fellow believers because they are an integral part of God’s body on earth, and we honor each other because we all have a unique and important contribution to make in the functioning and ministry of God’s family. People don’t have to accomplish great things in order to earn our honor. Every human deserves honor and esteem because of their dignity as a created being. Sometimes a person’s dignity is hidden far below the surface, at which time our job is to dig deep and find that person’s reflection of God’s image. Try to imagine every person wearing a crown of honor by virtue of them being hand-made by God. If there is any competition in the Body of Christ, it’s when fellow believers try to outdo one another in lifting up others and honoring them. If everyone is honoring each other, no one gets left out and everyone ends up being honored. In truly honoring another, there are no mixed motives. We don’t honor someone to get something in return, but to simply honor others for who they are. In God’s world, every person is honorable, is worthy of being honored, no matter what they have done, what they look like, how they live, and what they say. Our personal goal is to live honorably, while we honor everyone.
b. What honoring others looks like:
“Don’t allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic humility put others first and view others as more important than yourselves. Abandon every display of selfishness. Possess a greater concern for what matters to others instead of your own interests.” (Philippians 2:3-4, TPT).
“In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:22-25, NLT).
“So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, NLT).
“All of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” (1 Peter 5:5-6, NLT).
“So may we never be arrogant, or look down on another, for each of us is an original. We must forsake all jealousy that diminishes the value of others.” (Galatians 5:26, TPT).
“So don’t always seek what is best for you at the expense of another.” (1 Corinthians 10:24, TPT).
“Live happily together in a spirit of harmony, and be as mindful of another’s worth as you are your own. Don’t live with a lofty mindset, thinking you are too important to serve others but be willing to do menial tasks and identify with those who are humble minded. Don’t be smug or even think for a moment that you know it all.” (Romans 12:16, TPT).