When God made humanity in His image He bestowed upon us a great honor and privilege. Therefore, as His creation we are to honor God by honoring each other. Psalms 8:3-8, “3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”
HONOR: To value and respect.
Exodus 28:39-41, “39 Weave the tunic of fine linen and make the turban of fine linen. The sash is to be the work of an embroiderer. 40 Make tunics, sashes and caps for Aaron’s sons to give them dignity and honor. 41 After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.”
Proverbs 31:31, “Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
Romans 12:9-10, “9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Romans 13:6-7, “6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
1 Corinthians 12:26, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
Philippians 2:25-30, “25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. 26 For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. 29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.”
FIVE WAYS TO HONOR OTHERS
- Love others as God loves them (1 John 3:16 & 1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
- Do unto other as you would want done to you (Matthew 7:12 & Galatians 5:13-15).
- Only say about others when you’re not around them what you’d say if you were around them (Proverbs 16:27 & Proverbs 27:5-6).
- Think the best about others until they give you a reason to judge their character or actions as wrong (1 Corinthians 1:11-15 & 2 Corinthians 2:1-4).
- Only walk away from relationships that cannot be resolved with biblical problems solving techniques (Matthew 18:15-17 & Titus 3:10).
The way we honor others shows how much we honor God because we are all made in His image.
