Demonstrate Honor

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. ~ Romans 12:17 (NLT)

Honoring somebody in the 21^st century has lost some of its shine. Often, it is only spoken, let alone shown, during some type of ceremony. For example, a ceremony is held for men and women of our armed forces that are awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (given for extreme bravery in combat). The words are usually spoken, “Today, we pause to honor you.” We also have certain days of the year on our calendars that are reserved to honor a particular group of people. We have Father’s and Mother’s Days, which honors those who have been blessed to be a parent. We have Veteran’s Day, when we pause to honor those who have served in the armed forces. We have Memorial Day, which is a day to honor those who have sacrificed their lives to ensure the freedoms we hold so dear. And, there are many more.

Here’s my beef with this. Since when did honoring somebody get relegated to one day? Isn’t that false honor? It’s like saying, hey God, I will honor you by going to church on Sabbath (check out the 4^th commandment in Exodus 20), but the other days of the week you’re pretty insignificant. I would have a tough time saying that the appropriate level of honor is being given to Jesus. We owe Him everything. Shouldn’t He be honored every day of the week?

This is where our verse today comes in. “Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.” If we call ourselves Christians, then our job is to reflect the glory, power, majesty, love, grace, mercy, and compassion of Jesus all the time. We honor Him by doing these things. And, as a result, people will honor us because of the morals, ethics, and dignity with which we live life. They will also appreciate the reflection of Jesus that they see in us.

Those who are not honored by others? Hypocrites. A hypocrite is someone who professes one thing, but then does another. A Christian, for example, who chooses to do evil (see the first part of the verse) to others, while supposedly representing the Kingdom of Grace, is a hypocrite. No one respects hypocrites. And, the reality is, that when we behave in hypocritical ways, people will not only refuse to honor us, they will be pushed away from Jesus. Because the reflection they see in us is not attractive to them. We dishonor God’s kingdom.