Enjoying Memorial Day at the Frio

The Lost Art of Honor
Kerrville Daily Times Article
May 25, 2012

I recently helped host an art reception with several other ladies to honor a local artist. This artist had graciously donated some of her work to my place of business. We decided to honor her contribution to our nonprofit and to our community for her artistic talent. After the reception, I was visiting with the other two hostesses and made the comment that honor is a lost art in our society and culture. Somehow, our society has slowly drifted away from this character trait.

Honor is defined as giving high respect or esteem to someone or something; a person or thing that brings credit to something. 

Romans 12:10 instructs us by saying, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (NIV) 

The word honor in this passage actually means “precious.” Do you look at those around you as something precious?

So how can we honor those around us? First off, by speaking to them. I witnessed something the other day that was dishonoring. Two people were talking in a business conversation and a third person walked in and interrupted the conversation. He spoke to one lady and gave her a directive but totally ignored the other woman. One of the most disrespectful things you can do to someone is to ignore them or give them the silent treatment. People who do this only show their own insecurity and their own immaturity. 

Another way to honor others is by how we speak to them. I have recently been dealing with a dryer that has been broken for six weeks. The wrong parts were ordered twice, the company had to cancel the appointment several times for internal issues, and recently, the service man forgot to order the part he needed. Needless to say, I have been a bit frustrated, but as I talked to Customer Solutions the other day, I was challenged to speak kindly to the woman on the phone as I pleaded my case. I can’t say it was easy, as I really wanted to give her a piece of my mind. Honoring her as a person who is trying to do a good job got me further than 

giving her a piece of my mind. 

Showing honor to others raises their value. It picks them up and elevates them. It is a deposit in their bank instead of a withdrawal. Honoring blesses others. 

Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (NIV) 

Imagine if we were constantly affirming one another for their contribution to our families, churches, organizations, etc. Honoring others above ourselves is a directive from scripture. The Bible is so good at showing us how to live well

One of my all time favorite scriptures is Psalms 8:4 and 5. It reads, “What is man that your are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” God in his scripture esteems you and me. He honors us for simply being who we are. His honor is bestowed upon us. God almighty honors you! He has given you a crown of glory and validates you as being important. 

He even gives you and me a crown. It is his way of saying, “ Hey world — this is someone of value!” 

This passage transformed how I personally thought about myself years ago. My personal self esteem was pretty low at the time, and one morning in my quite time I read Psalms 8. I suddenly saw that God Almighty saw me as a woman of value. I had the choice to throw away the way I felt about myself and trade my thoughts for God’s. What about you? Do you need to toss some of your thoughts about yourself and see yourself as a person of value.

To take that passage to another level, if God honors the person next to us, shouldn’t we honor them too? How do you treat those in your home? Now let me challenge your thinking. How can you give something to someone if you don’t have it yourself? If you have trouble honoring others, perhaps it is because you don’t have a high regard for yourself. To lift them up, would only make you feel worse about yourself. Perhaps that is why some people struggle with honoring others.

Honor is a character trait that people in royalty practice. I have no doubt that honor is everywhere in Heaven. Why? In scripture, God honored Jesus. Jesus honored his Father God and Jesus and God highly honored the work of the Holy Spirit. Each one valued the others function higher than their own. Do you honor others in your church, in your work place for the work they do? Do you tell them how much you appreciate them?

Honor looks for what a person does right, not wrong. I think often times Christians are too judgmental of others. The truth is, if we were walking in their shoes, we might do the very same thing.  In my years as Director of the Christian Women’s Job Corps, I constantly instructed the volunteers to affirm what our clients were doing right. Many of the women we served were learning many new life skills, new ways and were new Christians. It was important to me that we honored what they did right instead of constantly trying to show them things that needed to change. Our job was to introduce them to new life skills, and the unconditional love of the Savior and it was God’s job to clean them up. Honor affirms the good. I discovered as I honored them as women of value, it raised their self esteem and raised them up. Honor acknowledges the effort and doesn’t punish failure. Otherwise, there is no freedom to step out and learn. You might consider applying this to your parenting if you are raising kids.

Honoring my Sons- Price and Austin
Price's Graduation from University of Texas

Scripture is clear on honoring our father and mother. It is a commandment with a promise. The promise is if we honor our parents, it may go well with us. How do you honor your father and mother? It is important that we honor the fact that they gave us life. We honor their position. We don’t have to agree with them on everything or let them control our lives. We can agree to disagree, but the bottom line is that we honor their position. We honor who they are and we find what is good about them. Not all parents are good parents. That is why we have Child Protective Services, and yet we must not become bitter or dishonor our parents. (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16 Matthew 15:4, Matthew 19:19, Ephesians 6:2.) Yes, sometimes it is good to set boundaries, but in all we must honor them. Do you honor your parents?

With this being Memorial Day Weekend, I would like to honor not only those that have given their lives for our country, but also those they left behind. Those that were left behind as their spouses, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers went to war gave to us something precious. They sacrificed for us, too, and I want to say thank you to them and honor them. To all those that were left with their lives in pieces from the loss, I ask God to bless you in ways that will touch your hearts. 

I have discovered that I need to do better at honoring those around me. Honor might be a lost art, but you and I can begin to change our society and community by honoring those around us. If we begin to honor one another in our homes, churches, places of business it will make a big difference.

It has to start somewhere, why not with you?

I'd love to hear from you!

Kathleen Maxwell is a native of the Hill Country, educator, writer and speaker. She is passionate about helping others 

discover the joy of walking with God and their value. Contact her at kathleen

maxwell1@gmail.com and on her blog www.themaxwellminutes.blogspot.com

PLEASE VOTE FOR

BRAD MCCULLOUGH

MAY 29th- Tuesday

May 29th is Voting Day!

Brad and MaryBeth with Kathleen