“Honorology” I
Been hearing a lot of people talking about honour and the fear of the Lord recently and I cannot agree more on how that is so important and yet taken for granted or lacking in recent times, whether in church or at home.
My personal take on it is - Give honour where honour is due.
Honour is not something that someone earns. It doesn’t mean one showing grace. It is also not about respect. It is about valuing someone and something.
Some thoughts I have learnt from Ps Steven Furtick @ Elevation Church (one of the most phenomenal pastor of our time) and picked up from just reflecting on giving due honour & the fear of the Lord.
The level of honour you give, is determined by the value you perceive.
That is a very true statement if you give it some more thought and put names or objects into it.
How about - how much you value your car is how much honour you would give it (i.e. care, beautifying it, etc…) or how much you value your job if how much honour you would give (i.e. the extra hours, the excellence, giving it your 110%).
Now how about - how much you value your spouse or family or any relationship for that matter is how much honour you would give them (i.e. time, encouragement, compliments, gifts etc…) or how much you value your parents is how much honour you would give them (i.e. obedience, respect etc…)
How about this then - How much you value your leaders is how much honour you give them (i.e. full attention over the pulpit, total submission despite circumstances and methods). Or how much you value the Word of God is how much honour you would give it (i.e. time in reading it, studying it, sharing it). And how much you value God in your life, is how much honour you would give it (i.e. going to church on time, having a decent fear and respect for all that He is).
I think you get my drift.
When you honour something, you protect it. You praise it and you make it a priority in your life - relationships, family, leaders, God.
Honour is like treating someone or something as special, or might I even dare to say it - Holy. Set apart. Uncommon.
Just like how we have set apart ourselves for our spouses as they have for us, because we see them more special than the rest of the world. They are one of a kind. Just like how we set apart the Word of God, because it is the truth that will set us free, because it is the living Word and we do not treat it as a common book.
We set apart ourselves for God, because He is Holy and though we can never be as holy as He is, we still do not treat Him as a common entity. We do not come into His presence with ingratitude or a mindset that it is but a common routine. He is to be feared, to be honoured.
It is very easy to dishonour someone in the way we interact with them, when we start seeing them not as God’s creation, like ourselves, but a little less than that. When we start to pass our own judgements on the treatment they deserve regardless of their position or performance. And if it is so easy to dishonour man, how much easier is it to dishonour God by the way we treat His living Word or His church?
Think about it and hold that thought.
I’ll expound on this more again in the next post. I’m gonna make this a 3 or 4-part blog post just so you get a clearer and bigger picture of what I’m trying to get at.
