Whatever is honorable....

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Phil. 4:8

Honor [on-er] -noun : honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs or actions

 In honor of the Haloween tradition, thousands of children will dress up in costumes and talk to strangers in order to get buckets of candy. We have acre after acre of funeral homes where we honor the dead. We have medals of honor, honorable mention, and honor roll. We honor the flag, our ancestors, our traditions, other's wishes, veterans, and whoever is celebrating the day they were born. Our society says a lot about honor. But what does the world know about honor? We live in a world that is lacking honesty, fairness, and integrity.

So, what does the Bible say? How do we counteract this trend?

I Peter 2:17 says, "Honor everyone...Honor the emperor." In this one verse God tells us the criteria for who is deserving of honor. Everyone. From the lowliest of people to the most powerful man in the world, they are deserving of honor. No person made in God's image is deserving of gossip, backstabbing, violence, immodesty, lies, or any other sinful action in their direction. Regardless of their behavior, political views, religious beliefs, economic situation, or appearance, they are deserving of respect because they are part of God's creation. This includes ourselves. Many people have a harder time honoring themselves than they do others. We must remember that we too are God's creation. We are living sacrifice. We are his temple. We shouldn't defile our bodies with impurities, our minds with worldly wisdom, and our hearts with negativity and hate.

But most importantly, we are to honor God and the Savior he sent. John 5:22-23 says, "The Father judges no one, but has given judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."

God is truth. God and all he has created and all he has done for us is deserving of utmost honor. Think about these things.

"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy..."

I Peter 3:15