honor

Jan

2024

A Good Name

“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

And favor is better than silver or gold.”

Proverbs 22:1

Happy New Year! Can you believe it is 2024? (Next year, we will say “Can you believe it is 2025:) Time has a way of escaping us until one day, we realize that it is a new year. That is why we usually make our “New Year’s Resolutions.” We want this year to be different. We don’t like how last year ended, the state of our health, finances, relationships, or our spiritual condition or walk with the Lord. So we make some goals for the year so that this year does not end like last year did.

I wrote my blog posts last year walking through the book of Proverbs, and since I was not quite completed I wanted to finish it up this year. We ended last year in Proverbs 21.

What a fitting way to start this year off with Proverbs 22:1. How we live our life is our reputation, our name.

I am currently reading through the book of Genesis and have been reading about Joseph’s life. His desire to glorify God meant more to him than anything else. It meant more to him than physical pleasure (Potiphar’s wife – Gen. 39), money or an easy life (Potiphar’s wife – Gen. 39), fame or glory (prison – Gen 40). Every opportunity that Joseph had to tell His story, Joseph always told God’s story. When Potiphar’s wife accosted him his response was “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9). When he had the opportunity to deliver the interpretation of the dream to the cupbearer and the baker, his response was “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Gen. 40:8).

Two years went by and Joseph was still in prison. The cupbearer forgot about Joseph, but Joseph remained faithful to God. When the opportunity came to reveal to Pharaoh the interpretation of his dreams again Joseph’s response was “It is not in me, God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” (Gen. 41:16).

Who became 2^nd in command to Pharaoh? Joseph. He did not pout or try to seek the glory for himself. Joseph‘s story could have been totally different if he had made different choices. The name Joseph could mean something totally different based on who he chose to glory in and the choices that ensued.

Our name means nothing until we give it meaning. How many teachers have you heard say, “I would never name my child ___________?” Why do they say that? They have had a student named that and the student was difficult and the name will always mean for that teacher the difficult student. When we name our child after someone, it is because that name brings a sense of love and fondness to our minds and bestows honor to the person the child is being named after.

Joseph was a Hebrew not an Egyptian, and yet his name and his reputation were of great honor and favor. “A great name is to be chosen over riches…” (Prov. 22:1). There were probably many other people that thought they deserved the honor that Joseph received to be the 2^nd highest in command. They were probably Egyptians with great wealth and the “family name.” but Joseph had proven himself to be trustworthy. His reputation was one of dependability and honesty. He lived a life that was above reproach. When the doors were closed and no one was watching, Joseph was still going to do the thing that honored God.

So as 2024 lays before us. We still have about 350 days left to change who we are. There is still time to have your name mean favorable, honest, dependable, high regard, and good. When you get to December 31, 2024, what do you want said about you and your year?

If we are going to be like Joseph, we must care only what God has to say about us because He is the only One that can see us at all times. He knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. (Heb. 4:12, 13). He sees us even when no one else does, and His approval is truly the only approval that matters. When we honor and glorify the Lord and represent Him well, we will receive favor.

Dec

2023

Pursue Righteousness and Kindness

“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness,

Will find life, righteousness, and honor.”

Proverbs 21:21

I love Christmas. I love decorating our house for Christmas. I love shopping and buying presents for people. I like having a list to shop from, but I also like figuring out what someone would like and getting that for them. Then seeing the look of pleasure and surprise on their face knowing you figured out just the thing that they wanted or needed. I also love the opportunity to get together with family and friends to celebrate the reason for this special time – JESUS.

As I consider this verse from Proverbs 21:21 and ponder the purpose for Christmas, I can’t help but think about all that Jesus left behind in heaven so that He could be an example to us in pursuing righteousness and kindness. Jesus didn’t just pursue righteousness and kindness, He is the personification of righteousness and kindness. He isn’t just the personification of righteousness and kindness, but He willingly gives us “robes of righteousness.” (Is. 61:10).

How do we receive these robes of righteousness? “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9). Jesus died in our place paying a debt that we could not pay, and once He paid that penalty and we believe that He did, we receive from Jesus “robes of righteousness.” It sure seems like those who believe in Jesus get the better end of the deal. We deserve nothing and did nothing and yet we get everything.

Looking at our verse in Proverbs 21:21 Jesus pursued righteousness and kindness, and what did he receive in return? He gives us the hope of eternal life. He gives us righteousness. We receive honor because we have the hope of spending eternity in heaven with God.

So how does Jesus benefit from living a righteous and kind life? He brings honor and glory to His Father. He represents His Father to us. We see how living a life of serving God by serving others brings the greatest peace, hope, joy, and satisfaction we could ever desire.

Jesus came to earth as a baby to grow up and live a sinless and righteous life to demonstrate His love (Rom. 5:8) for us and teach us how to live. (Phil. 2). So how than shall we live?

We should live righteously demonstrating love and kindness to others. The more our love for God grows the easier it is to love and serve others. Jesus is our greatest example of this.

The more we love ourselves the harder it is to love, serve, and show kindness to others. How can we live righteously and show kindness to others when we are always looking at how to please ourselves? As we give of our life to others, just like Jesus did, we are breathing life into others.

As we plant seeds of righteousness into others, we will see the seeds of that righteousness flourish and grow in their lives. As we seek to love and serve others, we are demonstrating honor to others.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11).

As we celebrate Christmas and remember the true purpose of Christmas, we need to appreciate Christ’s sacrifice for us. We must be thankful for the righteousness and kindness that He showed to us, and we must cherish the example He was. As we experience feelings of dissatisfaction related to our selfishness, we then need to turn to the only One who can really give us peace, hope and joy. There is not one verse in Scripture that encourages us to look out for our interests. There is not one verse that says we are to focus on ourselves and deny others. God made us in His image. Since we are made in the image of God, the logical conclusion based on the example of Christ is to focus on others and deny ourselves.

Let’s commit to celebrating Christmas, by living lives of righteousness and kindness and demonstrating God’s image to everyone we come in contact with by loving and serving them well.

Merry Christmas!

Sep

2023

Wisdom brings Success

Proverbs 15:5 “A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent”

Proverbs 15:10 “There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die.”

Proverbs 15:12 “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.”

Proverbs 15:22 “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”

Proverbs 15:31 “The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.”

Proverbs 15:32 “Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.”

Proverbs 15:33 “The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”

Proverbs 15 has six verses that focus on the importance and the value in listening to those that are wise. There is much to be gained from those that are willing to not just listen but to also seek out those who are wise.

Before we delve into the negative aspects of those that do not want to listen. Let’s look at the positive parts of these verses and understand what makes someone wise. Why is it that anyone should listen to someone else?

Proverbs 15:33 gives us some clues into what makes a person worth listening to.

First, the wise person fears the Lord. This fear of the Lord does not mean that the person is afraid of God, rather this person respects God. This person knows that the best answers to any of life’s problems, issues, or trials will be found in the Lord. They also recognize the sovereignty of God knowing that whatever happens in life they do not blame God for it but rather thank God that nothing is out of His control and trusting that whatever happens in life God has a plan and will use the events to help us to grow.

Another aspect of fearing the Lord is worshipping God alone. We live in a culture that does not want to worship God but rather worship any number of other things or people. Too often the things that we worship are not as easy to recognize or get rid of as the idols that are written about in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the people would trust in a statue to bring them rain, peace, prosperity, children, etc. When they decided to trust in God for these things rather than an idol/a statue they would smash the idols. Today, we do not set up a statue and look to it to bring us peace, hope, happiness, satisfaction, approval/attention, comfort/ease of life, security, or love. Rather, we look at any number of things or people to bring us these things. When we do not get what we want to provide us what we think we deserve we begin to experience fear, anxiety, depression, anger, or panic. We try to control all the situations that we can so that our felt needs are met. We have set up these things: peace, hope, happiness, satisfaction, approval/attention, comfort/ease of life, security, or love, as the idols in our lives. Only, they are not as easily torn down and smashed into pieces as the idols of the Old Testament.

When we worship these idols, we cannot fear the Lord. The wise seek to first and foremost worship God alone.

Second, the wise person is humble. This wise person understands that in order to fear God they must be humble. They must be willing to admit that God and His Word has all the answers in life. The humble person realizes that the only true satisfaction, peace, hope, joy, or love will come from God.

Third, because the wise person is humble, they will receive honor. A proud person demands others to honor them so they seek to control all situations so that they can be honored. A humble person never demands honor, but receives honor because of their humility. They have a gentle and quiet spirit and a soft inner strength that is honorable. This softness and gentleness never demands to be respected and honored, but they are easy to respect and honor because their gentleness is what makes them great.

The converse of the wise person is the foolish scoffer. The foolish scoffer does not fear the Lord. The foolish scoffer looks to their idols to have their needs met. They want to control all situations in life so that their needs can be met. The more they can control the situation or the other people in their lives the better chance they have at getting their felt needs met.

The foolish scoffer cannot fear God and trust God because then they would not be in control, but would have to choose to submit to God’s control and God’s sovereignty. Looking to the Bible for direction in life and seeking the wisdom of those that are wiser such as parents, those in authority, Pastors, etc.; would cause the foolish scoffer to admit that they cannot control all situations in life. To admit this would mean that they would have to humble themselves. They would have to surrender their pride and their control.

The foolish scoffer does not receive honor because they are due honor, but because they demand honor. However, this honor is not given willingly, but is rather forced from others. We see this in a domineering father or husband. He demands that situations go according to his plans, and when they do not, they get angry and yell. Lest we think it is only men that are like this, we women will attempt to control situations also by yelling or by crying and sobbing.

So the question is where do we fall? Are we wise and fear the Lord or are we foolish scoffers that close our ears in foolish pride because the only right way is our way?

Proverbs 15:22 “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”

With many advisers our plans will succeed. Do we only seek the advice of those that will tell us what we want to hear, or are we willing to seek the advice of those that may give us a different opinion?

Proverbs is replete with instruction for children to listen to their parents. I know that this is not always the best as there are many parents that also do not seek out wise counsel and the way they live their life demonstrates a lack of fearing the Lord. However, there are many wise parents out there. Many parents who are seeking to make wise choices in how they raise their children and how they interact with their children. These parents willingly admit their mistakes and try to live a life that glorifies the Lord. Our parents should be part of our “advisory council.”

If you do not know if you are the wise or the foolish person, look at your life and ask those that are closest to you. Do you seek to control all situations, knocking over whoever may be in your way of you getting what you want? Are you willing to listen to those that are wise, humble, and honored?

Psalm 18:35 “…Your gentleness made me great.” Those that are wise will exemplify our Lord and be gentle in their speech and in their actions. In their gentle way of living life, they do not seek to live life for their own pleasure but seek to glorify God and serve others.

The converse of this is Proverbs 15:12 “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.” They live and speak harshly seeking to have others serve them. They are seeking to glorify themselves.

Are you wise or a foolish scoffer? The evidence is in your life.

Oct

2020

Commit your work to the Lord

“Commit your work to the LORD,

and your plans will be established.”

(Proverbs 16:3)

I read this verse last month and it struck me in a different way. I have been reading a Proverb every day for years. I love how God brings different things to light at different times in our lives when we need them. It reminds us of His Sovereignty and of His care for us.

When we think of the word commit we think of fully dedicating ourselves to something. God wants us to fully dedicate our work to Him. As I read this verse, I was struck by the word “work” in this verse. I have 3 different things – work – that I do. I have been asking God for wisdom and direction in each of these, but never really thought about committing them to the Lord. As I started praying this prayer to the Lord, I began to see some changes.

God has given me the work that I do. He has seen me responsible enough and able enough to do that work. Do I turn around and commit it to Him? He has given it to me, do I give it back to Him knowing His plans are sovereign?

It is the laying the work that I do at His feet knowing that He knows what is for my best and for His glory. I began to pray “Lord, I commit to you my nursing job. I commit to you my real estate job. I commit to you my counseling job.”

As we commit our work to the Lord, then our plans will be established. It is the dependency on the Lord and the realization that He knows what is for our best. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom.8:28).

I have been praying this prayer for my daughter who needed to find a job in her field, and God provided her one. It may not be exactly what she is looking for, but it is a job that will challenge her and she will be using her degree. Praise God for His goodness.

In the idea of committing, we are relying on God. When we do this, we realize our dependency on Him and also realize His sovereignty. We may never understand “the plans that are established” by us for the Lord, but we certainly can use what He has given us to increase our faith in Him.

So when you drive to work tomorrow and the next day, or you get out of bed and sit down at your desk because you work remotely “commit your work to the Lord.” He gave you that job for a very specific reason. Are you seeking to fulfill that reason? Yes, it is to help provide for our needs, but what about the people you work with. Do they know you are a believer because you are honorable in your job? Do they see the love of Christ in your words and actions?

As you begin to change your prayer, watch how God answers and then be sure to follow His lead.

Feb

2020

The Value of Honor

“Honor” is not a word that we use as much these days. We may use the word respect instead. When we honor something or someone we place a high value on the person or the thing. How do we treat someone with high respect or with honor?

Words

I think the first thing that we can do to treat someone with honor is by what we say about them when we are with that person and most often times when we are not with them. We know the old adage, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” It seems in our culture today, we want to make sure we are heard. We want to make sure our opinion or thoughts are heard. This is an age of constant communication. If I am thinking something, even if I am by myself, hundreds of people will know what I want to say once I put it on a social media forum. No longer do I have to keep my thoughts to myself. They can be broadcast to hundreds, thousands, or millions of people.

Another phrase that I am troubled by regarding our words is “I need to speak my truth.” What does that mean? The facts are the facts. And yet it seems that in our culture today too many people want to live their life by their own version of the truth. If their version of the truth does not agree with another person’s version of the truth, then what do we do? We are seeing this in the impeachment trial of President Trump.

There never seems to be a loss for words these days, but there seems to be a loss of respect a loss of honor for other people with those words.

My dad and my daughter both called me the other day. One right after the other. As I hung up with my daughter, I began to consider this concept of honor. Ephesians 6:3 says we are to “honor our father and our mother.” I began to think about and consider that my daughters are watching how I treat my parents.

This am reminded of a story from the Brothers Grimm called Grandmother’s Table

Once there was a feeble old woman whose husband died and left her all alone, so she went to live with her son and his wife and their own little daughter. Every day the old woman’s sight dimmed and her hearing grew worse, and sometimes at dinner her hands trembled so badly the peas rolled off her spoon or the soup ran from her cup. The son and his wife could not help but be annoyed at the way she spilled her meal all over the table, and one day, after she knocked over a glass of milk, they told each other enough was enough.

The set up a small table for her in the corner next to the broom closet and made the old woman eat her meals there. She sat all alone, looking with tear-filled eyes across the room at the others. Sometimes they spoke to her while they ate, but usually it was to scold her for dropping a bowl or a fork.

One evening just before dinner, the little girl was busy playing on the floor with her building blocks, and her father asked her what she was making, “I’m building a little table for you and mother,” she smiled, “so you can eat by yourselves in the corner someday when I get big.”

Her parents sat staring at her for some time and then suddenly they both began to cry. That night they led the old woman back to her place at the big table. From then on she ate with the rest of the family, and her son and his wife never seemed to mind a bit when she spilled something every now and then.

Actions

So what does this story say about our actions. Others are watching our actions. We also must honor others with our actions. How do our actions show honor? By inviting others to eat with us. By holding open a door. By letting another go first. By being the one that asked about the welfare of others rather than always waiting for others to ask about ours. By choosing to sit next to that person that seems all alone. By talking to that person that seems alone or always acts a little awkward. By noticing when others need help rather than always waiting to be told. By treating others how we want to be treated. So many ways we can show honor to others.

“Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Rom. 12:10). Do we ever consider how important it would be to have a competition in honoring others? This friendly little competition is not for the sake of looking better than another, but rather it is show honor to others. It has nothing to do with us and everything to do about the other person.

I wonder how many friendships, marriages, parent-child relationships, boss-employee relationships, etc. would not disintegrate if we all “died to self” (Luke 9:23, 24) and worked harder at “outdoing each other in showing honor?” (Rom.12:10).

Showing honor is a sacrifice. Sometimes it is a sacrifice of our own needs. It might be a sacrifice to our reputation if we show honor to “the least of these.” (Mt. 25:40). Jesus did not care what others thought as He cared for so many. His goal was to show love and honor to others. He also wanted to make sure that He always spoke the truth. As He spoke the truth, He did so with honor for the other person.

I find that as I make honoring others my goal, it removes my focus off myself and on to others. As I am showing honor and love in a sacrificial way my needs seem to pale in comparison.

So Mom and Dad, when you’re drooling at the dinner table or can’t seem to find your mouth or you spill your water all down the front of you, I promise to clean you up and speak kindly to you. After all, you cleaned up after me when I was a child…and I was a pretty messy one at that.

honor

A Good Name