All Weekly Sharpening Posts

March 9, 2023

Honor Everyone (Part 3)

Have you been thinking about this two-word command from Peter?  Have you tried to live it out in your day-to-day life with the people you encounter?

What’s the key to honoring everyone, even the people you don’t respect, like or love?

The ability to show honor to others is rooted in our identity in Christ.   I think about this in two ways.

#1

 We are sons of the Most High God.  We are co-heirs with Christ.  We are royalty.  We are God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12).  These gifts are unbelievable and undeserved.  Truly, we are recipients of God’s pure grace. 

Take a minute to soak these truths in, made possible by God’s grace and Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross.

We deserve death, not princely status.

Living in these truths can transform our way of thinking about others.

When I am secure in my relationship with Christ, I am much more gracious, kind and loving.  I’m more likely to build someone up rather than tear them down.  I can honor someone I don’t like or agree with, even someone with “emperor status” (see last week’s post) when I remember who I am in Christ.

But when I live in my insecurity, apart from who I am in Christ, I’m quick to judge, demean and compete against others.  I want to “win” even though I don’t know what winning looks like in these interactions.  That’s my pride and ego taking center stage.

#2

I must remember that I am a sinner saved by grace.   God loves all His children the same, and we were all made in His image.  I am no better than anyone else.  When I fail to honor another person, I fail to honor my Heavenly Father, the creator and giver of life.  In those moments, I’ve become a judge, showing favoritism, which is clearly a sin (James 2:1-13).

It helps when I remember that we are all God’s children, and need God’s love, mercy, grace and forgiveness.  I’m no more deserving of these things than the people I demean and fail to honor.

Jesus commands that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).  This is how we show honor.

It all comes back to knowing my identity in Christ and  living it out daily.

Ed Sabol, formerly with NFL Films, puts it this way, “Treat everyone like a gentleman.  Not because they are, but because you are.”