Culture of Honor
by Tammy Iund Woodard
Monday - 6.21.21
John Bevere discusses a culture of honor in this way: To release the God given destiny inside each of us, “we must honor God, others, and even ourselves according to the identity our Creator has given us. God’s kingdom celebrates each individual, but it is a family affair. While worldly success is often oriented toward self, your success in God is about so much more than you.”
What does the bible say about honor? 1 Peter 2:17 NLT “Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.” In the King James Version the word for respect is honor. This same word is used repeatedly throughout the New Testament when Jesus speaks of honoring His Father and honoring your earthly parents. In other words, the law taught to honor God and your earthly parents. But Jesus came and said in addition to that, you should show honor to everyone! Wow! Jesus didn’t say you should only show honor to those who show honor to you first. Jesus didn’t say you should only show honor to those who can reciprocate showing honor back to you. Jesus didn’t say you should only show honor to those who can behave well. Nope. Honor everyone. Honor changes the relationship.
Genesis 1:26a states, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” The Hebrew definition of the word for image literally means a statue or idol. The Hebrew definition of the phrase “like us” means resemblance in mannerisms and habits. We see in this scripture God designed our physical entities as well as our personalities. He created our identity. Psalms 139:16 states, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” God has recorded your identity. He already had a plan from your conception about who you would be. He already had a plan for everyone about who they would be. We honor all because all were created by God, in the image of God with a God-given identity. Now I know, there are those who don’t behave that way. They don’t behave deserving of honor. But God once again modeled for us in Romans 5:8 the culture of honor, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” God first honored us, so we can honor others. Honor is a stewardship paradigm. Exodus 20:12 tells us by honoring we will have a long life. I love the way Bill Johnson defines a culture of honor: “A culture of honor is celebrating who a person is without stumbling over who they’re not.”
No one is expendable and no one is disposable. In a culture of honor, there is only ALL. A culture of honor is kingdom culture, it’s kingdom work.
Call to Action
Pray, read and reflect on the following scriptures this week.
Reflection
Think about someone who you might have a difficult time showing honor toward. Does it make it easier to show them honor if you remember they were created by God even if they are not walking in it right now?
in the image of God
with a God given identity
How do you define a culture of honor? What does that look like in everyday life?
How would a culture of honor change your relationships?
What is God calling you to do to create a culture of honor in your life, in your family, in your church and in your community?
