Honouring
To Honour:
• To esteem
• To ornament
• To boast about
• To worship
• To dignify
• To value a person’s worth by saying encouraging things to one another (often this is counter culture)
Rom 12:9-13
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
1) Who are we called to honour?
a) God
i) How? Psalm 66:1-5
Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!
Say to God (tell Him), “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.” Selah 5 Come and see (tell others) what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf!
ii) By following his commands
iii) By delighting in Him and humbling ourselves before Him,
iv) loving His people.
v) Result of honouring God:
(1) 1 Sam 2:30 Those who honour me I will honour
(2) Prov 22:4 Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honour and life.
(3) Solomon by seeking God’s wisdom also ended up with riches and honour.
b) Father and Mother
i) Deuteronomy 5:16 “Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
c) Elderly
i) Leviticus 19:32 ‘You shall rise before the gray headed and honour the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord.
d) Employers
i) 1 Timothy 6:1 Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.
e) Govt
i) 1 Peter 2:17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king.
f) Those we think less honourable
i) A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men. Thomas Carlyle
ii) 1 Corinthians 12:23-26 and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
g) Widows
i) 1 Timothy 5:3 Honour widows who are really widows.
4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
h) Wives
i) 1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honour to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
i) Husbands
i) Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
j) Church Leaders
i) 1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
ii) 1 Thes 5:12-15 And now, friends, we ask you to honour those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love! Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
k) Everyone
i) 1 Peter 2:17 Honour all people. Love the brotherhood.
(1) We are surrounded by valuable people
ii) Why we need to honour everyone:
(1) Everyone in Christ is a part of His body and therefore worthy of honour
(2) Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
(3) Heb 3:13 Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness
(4) God will return honour to us
(a) We are called to be creative (sneaky) in our acts of love.
(b) 1 John 3:16-18 (MsgB) This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. [17] If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.
(c) He climbs highest who helps another up. Zig Ziglar
(d) We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own. Ben Sweetland
iii) We are to love one another as we love ourselves
(1) If we cant love others it is an indicator that we can’t love ourselves.
(2) When we show love to others it enables them to love others.
(3) Church needs to be an encouraging place where we build one another up. Where we speak the things of God into one another’s lives.
(4) A good word costs no more than a bad one
(5) Rom 14:19 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
(MsgB) So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault.
I read of a woman who moved to a small town. After being there a short time, she complained to her neighbor about the poor service she received at the local drugstore. She was hoping her new acquaintance would repeat her criticism to the store’s owner.
The next time the newcomer went to the drugstore, the druggist greeted her with a big smile, told her how happy he was to see her again, and said he hoped she liked their town. He also offered himself as a resource to the woman and her husband as they got settled. Then he took care of her order quickly and efficiently.
Later the woman reported the incredible change to her friend. “I suppose you told him how poor I thought the service was?” she declared.
“Well, no,” the neighbor said. “In fact—and I hope you don’t mind—I told him you were amazed at the way he had built up this small town drugstore, and that you thought it was one of the best-run drugstores you’d ever seen.
