True Honor

As we approach the anniversary of our nation’s Independence Day this week the feelings of freedom, liberty, and honor will be displayed throughout the good ole’ USA; and rightly so. We live in the greatest country in existence. There are so many patriots who have fought and died to give us the freedoms that we enjoy today. These thoughts and beliefs of patriotism should be displayed proudly as we show respect to our veterans, as well as, acknowledging the benefits of living in a free country. Wave your red, white, and blue this week and show your American pride on this year’s Independence Day.

1 Peter 2:15-17 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Just like the pride that most Americans express, we Christians should openly convey a similar message. Through the shed blood of Jesus He has freed us from the bondage of sin. When we believed upon the name of Jesus and accepted Him into our hearts as Lord and Savior, we were set at liberty with God. On a daily basis we should honor the sacrifice of the Savior. He won the greatest war against sin and Satan at the cross at Calvary.
We as Christian Americans should view things differently. If we would “honor all men” like our text instructs us to do this would make our nation a much better place.

In this command, the Greek word for honor means, “to prize, fix a valuation upon; by implication to respect.” Reverence for others grows out of a proper fear of the Lord, since He is the One Who created all men and established structures of authority. Therefore, true honor is actually based on our perception of the power, majesty, and holiness of God. People in America today do not truly honor people because they do not truly honor God.

Reverence for God should cause us to honor every person as a representative of God, because He created them in His own image and has placed them in our lives for our benefit. On this basis, God instructs us to “honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king”.

Personal greed and pride destroy our ability to truly honor God or those who represent Him. In Mark 12, Jesus explains this truth in a parable about a wealthy master who sent one of his servants to a distant vineyard that he owned. The tenants who were caring for the vineyard beat the servant and drove him away rather than honoring him as the representative of the master and giving him the fruit of the land. The master continued to send servants to the vineyard, but they experienced the same abusive disrespect. Finally, the master decided to send his beloved son, expecting that the son would surely be met with respect. However, the wicked tenants said among themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours” (Mark 12:7). Because of their failure to honor the authority that the servants and the son represented, the wicked tenants were put to death when the master returned.

We are not born with a natural tendency to honor God or others. We learn honor by learning to fear the Lord.

Ask yourself, “If I were to view every person as a personal representative of God, how would my attitude and behavior toward them change?
God Bless and Happy Independence Day

Posted by Mark Newell


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