The word “honor” has been on my heart lately, which has led me to write this, hopefully, to reach someone who also needed to hear this!
What does honor mean? And how do I honor God?
We hear all the time, as Christians, we need to honor God. But how do we do that, how do we put that into action?
We don’t hear the word “honor” very often in today’s vocabulary, at least I don’t. I only hear it being used in church and reference to the Bible. Honor, what does it really mean? When I think of the word honor I think of a King or someone that has high power and authority. The word, to me, seems “old school” from the monarchy days when kings and queens ruled. I wanted to dive more into the word honor to help me understand how I can honor God better and fully with my actions.
The Hebrew meaning of the word honor “derives from a root word meaning weighty (in terms of impressiveness or importance) and is often used to refer to the glory of God”. So, the words that stick out are importance and glory. The Oxford definition is “high respect; great esteem”, “adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct.”, and “fulfill”. To help me further understand the meaning of a word I am big on synonyms and so here are a few of “honor”: credit, glory, privilege, respect, honesty, morals, worthiness, faithfulness, appreciate, value, admire, reverence, worship, just to name a few. Now with that in mind here’s some scripture that has stuck out to be about the word honor.
Scripture:
Ephesians 6:2 Acts 20:35
Exodus 20:12 Colossians 3:12-14
Malachi 1:6 Romans 12:10
Proverbs 22:4 Hebrews 13:18
Matthew 12:8-9 John 12:26
John 5:23 Colossians 3:23
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Revelation 4:11
1 Samuel 2:30 Romans 13:1-7
1 Peter 2:17 Proverbs 22:4
Proverbs 3:9 Matthew 5:16
Colossians 3:17 Joshua 22:1-6
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 1 Peter 3:15
Hebrews 13:4 Deuteronomy 5:16
*To name a few….
To dive even deeper and better my understanding, I watched a few sermons preached on “How to honor God” as well as some podcasts, and here are my takeaways. Honoring Christ is to surrender to Him and let His words steer your path. In other words, follow God’s word. John 10:27, like sheep we are to listen to God’s voice and follow His words. This made me think of my relationship that we have we pets. Now, my dog does not always listen when called, she rather explore or play some more, she is distracted with what she has going on rather than what I need her to do. Which is a lot like how we are when God calls us. We tell God “Oh I can’t do that right now I have other things on my list of priorities, I’ll get back to you”. We begin to take the reins instead of letting God hold the reins. Have you ever let go of the dog's leash and your dog go exactly where you want them to go? Now let go of their leash when they spot a squirrel, do they chase the squirrel or follow your path?
We see Honor mentioned in the Bible 355 times. One place we see how to honor God is in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, We are to glorify God with our bodies because our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit that is IN YOU. Our bodies are holy and set apart for HIS GLORY! Glorify and honor are the same thing and can be interchangeable. We glorify God with our bodies. We take care of our bodies. And there is a rabbit hole I can go down with the meaning of this to me, but let’s keep going.
Another place to see how to honor God is with our wealth (Proverbs 3:9-10). Money is the root of all evil. Personal gain gets in the way. Now working hard to provide is not a bad thing. I believe that working hard to provide for your family is a way we honor God with our wealth. But don’t let the action of making more money take away from your pursuit of the Lord. This is a topic I want to dive more into another time, but let’s look at another way the Bible tells us how to honor.
1 Peter 2:17 tells us to honor EVERYONE. We should honor our mom and dad, honor those in charge, honor our neighbors, honor EVERYONE! We are ALL the Lord’s people, every single one of us whether we believe in God or not will stand before Him (Romans 14:6-12). Now you might not love or agree with those who are in charge, it’s about giving them respect because of their position. I think we are lacking the basic principles of respect in our society today. Children do not respect their parents, therefore they have no grounds for respect when they are older and entering the workforce. Respect is not instilled in our society as much as it used to be. The action of HONOR comes from the Bible. When we honor others, it is not because of their performance, or what you can get out of it, it is because of their position. We tend to have a self-centered approach when it comes to honoring others, asking the question “What did/do they do for me?”. That’s like only honoring God when He gives you something. We honor God because He is our Lord and Savior!! It’s not about what we have or how successful we are that determines how much we honor God, it is because He is our almighty, King of Kings, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, name above all names, and creator of all. That is why we honor Him. Even when life is kicking you when you are down, we are called to honor Him. Honor means to give the highest regard, respect, reverence, admiration, adoration, awe, praise, submission, and obedience. Now when life is NOT going your way it is hard to stay obedient to God’s word and to praise Him. I know times when it is really hard to find the good to be thankful for, but the goodness and faithfulness from God is still there, it always is.
When times get hard and you make mistakes and you get off God’s path for you, do you run to God or from God? I know many times in my life when I wanted to “hide” from God. Just like when you do something that you know you shouldn’t have done, and you hide from your parents. But God already knows what you did, He wants you to come to Him. Not to punish you, but He wants your heart. When I want to “hide” from God I think of Adam and Eve when they ate from the forbidden tree. Genesis 3: 8-10, Adam and Eve heard God's voice and they hid. Imagine these two people on earth that God created, you think you can hide from God? I always thought that was funny, like where are you going to hide where God cannot find you? Do you think God didn’t see them run and hide in the garden? BUT WOW how we hide from God today, even though it is so silly to hide. I heard this story of a little kid covered in mud head to toe and he was told not to play in the mud and then mom comes in and sees and asks the boy where he had been. It's hard to lie your way out of that one, you are covered in the mud and mom knows exactly what you’ve been up to. Just like the saying “parents know everything” maybe they didn’t physically see it but they just KNOW. It is weird how many things I thought my parents never knew about, but years later I found out that they always knew. I love this analogy because it is so much like our relationship with God. We are covered in sin, and we try to hide like God cannot find us, but He wants us to come to Him. My testimony I was covered in mud, and I lifted my hands to God and showed him the mud that was covered on me, and with a cry from the heart, he cleaned that mud. GOD WANTS YOUR HEART. He knows you will fail and that you are not perfect, He didn’t choose you because you are perfect. David was not a perfect person in the Bible, he was a murder and committed adultery, yet God said that he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22). God still appointed David, even though he was not perfect. David was a man after God’s own heart because he was committed to God’s way. God knows that you are not perfect and that you will mess up and you will stumble, but are you running to God when that happens or hiding, thinking He cannot find you?
The level at which you honor God is the level at which you value Him. You run to God even when you mess up because you VALUE that relationship. I will do anything; I will do what it takes for my relationship with Christ. I have lost many friends because I value my relationship with Jesus. They pulled me away from Him and I care more about having a good relationship with Him than a friend that will drag me down a path I shouldn’t go. Don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with earning something. You cannot add anything to the blood of Christ, our price was paid in full because of God’s love for us. I love my relationship with God, He is my BEST FRIEND, a good Father and I love Him. I do not value my relationship with Him because of some “reward”. Not this mindset of I need to read my Bible for 10 minutes every day or God will not bless me. I value our relationship because of the way He loves me. Before I was born again, I didn’t truly have a relationship with God and I do not want to be that person again. I want to be the person God made me to be, and I can only do that by honoring and loving Him.
Honor is an action. Giving thanks to God is more than words, it is action. I can say “thank you God” all day long, but how am I showing Him my true thanks? True thanks to God is doing what He asks. Obedience. Doing what He says. Even the small mundane things. If you want to move mountains, you have to start moving rocks when God asks you. How much you value God is seen through your obedience. In Psalm 50:14, says “offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving”, God has no need of animal sacrifice, but He wants love and thanks from His people. Serve, pray, and forgive are the fundamentals. As we mature in our relationship with God it becomes about our heart. God looks at our hearts, He wants your heart!
We show God honor through our actions by spending quality time with Him, praying, reading the Bible, obeying His word, serving, and how we treat others.
I made a list of ACTIONS in ways we can honor God.
- Give thanks
- Obey
- Pray
- Gratitude
- Serve
- Keep His commandments
- Walk in His ways
- Seek Him
- Trust (in your heart) that His ways are best
- Love others.
- Worship
- Prioritize
- Quality Time
These things look different for each person. One way I spend quality time with God is by going on walks and talking with Him as if He is walking right next to me. I’ve struggled with all of these at one point in my life and I know there are areas I will struggle in again. But I am running TO God, always. I pray that for any of these that I am lacking or missing in my life, God will guide me to see those things and work on them. I pray them for you as well! I love God and I want to show Him the love and honor I have for Him!!
If you read this, thank you! These were just my notes on how to actually honor God daily with actions. There are many areas in my life I can work on being better at especially when it comes to honoring God! I am excited about the things I've learn. I just couldn't help but share them!
As I was researching how to honor God I came across the meaning of true obedience and God’s love language and I want to share those notes with you next, so stay tuned. I hope you were able to get something from this if you read it. Even if it was opening your Bible to read a verse! The words honor and prioritize have been on my heart lately and then I felt like God led me to write this down. Maybe it was just to help me, but I hope it can help you too!
-Logan
February 2024
Encourage you to watch/read these because they are really great!!
Sources:
What Honoring God Actually Means & How It Affects You (Sermon) Steve Smothermon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZspWwENBTk
The Spirit of Honor (Sermon) Jentezen Franklin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L73B9bmQkM
David: A man after God's own heart https://petergoeman.com/david-as-a-man-after-gods-own-heart-1-samuel-1314/#:~:text=The%20Bible%20says%20David%20was,demonstrated%20fidelity%20to%20God's%20Law.
Scriptures on Honor https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?qs_version=NIV&quicksearch=honor+god&startnumber=1
Ways to Worship God Daily https://www.gcu.edu/blog/spiritual-life/weekly-devotional-ways-worship-god-daily
Article: 5 Ways We Can Honor God https://www.liftupjesus.com/5-ways-honor-god-today/
Amy Seely Podcast: God's Love Language https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-belonging-co-podcast/id1417340594?i=1000644553134
Honor in Cancel Culture: Craig Groeshel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUl3Isozzgo
Scriptures on honor: https://www.openbible.info/topics/honor_god