BUILDING HONOR

For those who honor Me I will honor,

and those who despise Me will be cursed. 1 Samuel 2:30

God essentially told King Solomon in 1 Kings 9:4-5, “If you honor Me, then I will honor you.” The word “honor” is used more than 134 times in the Bible. In our culture, we use synonyms like respect, integrity, honesty, recognition, value, esteem, etc. Many people and organizations have a “code of honor.” The military has a code of honor; some families have a code of honor; even pirates and criminals have a code of honor. Seems like an oxymoron, right? What does that mean? It means that each of these groups have a standard by which they hold each other accountable. It means to be entrusted to behave honorably and honestly without supervision. Journalist Walter Lippmann said: “He has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.” When you live up to the standard, then you are worthy of honor. Ephesians 4:1 says, “…walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called;” Worthy, honorably, living up to what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

The Christian’s code of honor would include:

•​Humility…………………………………………Matthew 5:3

•​Contrition…………………………………..……Matthew 5:4

•​Meekness……………………………………...…Matthew 5:5

•​Hungering and thirsting for righteousness……...Matthew 5:6 

•​Merciful………………………….………………Matthew 5:7

•​Purified in heart……………………………...…..Matthew 5:8

•​Peacemakers……………………………….…….Matthew 5:9

•​Suffering for Jesus……………………..……Matthew 5:10-11 

So, how do you evaluate your thinking about yourself? Do you look at the standard, the code of honor, in the word of God and say to yourself, “Am I doing that? Am I so concerned about my relatives’ salvation that I am praying earnestly for that person and asking God to give me the opportunity to tell them of Christ? Am I ready, prepared for the opportunity when it arises? As a father, do I provoke my children to anger? As a wife, do I love my husband as Titus 2:4 demands?”

Ike Graham