Honor is not earned. It is given.

When you think about the idea of "honor", you probably think about people who deserve to be honored because of what they've done. We honor our sports heroes who win championships. We honor the high-achievers who win spelling-bees and robotics competitions. We honor musicians who entertain us with hit songs.

We rightly honor our veterans who were willing to give their all to ensure our well-being. It is good and appropriate for us to often honor the sacrifices made by those who served our country.

Most of the time, we honor those who have earned it through their actions. However... God also expects us to honor people, not because of what they've done, but because of who they are! Paul writes in Ephesians 6:2:

“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).

To honor is to:
- prize
- respect
- value
- view as worthy

Paul expects people to honor their parents, not because their parents have earned it, but because they have been appointed by God to that position of authority, responsibility and accountability.

We all have people in our life that may not have earned our honor/respect/value, yet God expects that we honor them because He has placed them in a position of authority over us. They might be a teacher, a boss, a manager, a police officer, an elected official, a coach or something else. If they are in a position of authority, God has allowed them to be there and He expects us to honor them.

As long as they are not leading you into sin, are you willing to demonstrate honor to them as you would to Jesus? This is a tougher challenge, isn't it? But it is a key element of living the Jesus-life. I hope you'll give it a try.

Everybody Hurts. Yet Joy Can Be Found In Suffering.

It is a joy to serve God.

If it isn’t, you’re probably just serving yourself by pretending to serve God.

Being a servant of God means several things which on their own should bring enough joy to sufficiently quell any unhappiness.

• Being God’s servant means I am dwelling in the household of God. Although it isn’t Eden exactly, it is the closest we on the post-fall earth can come. 
• By serving God, I am willingly participating as a member of his family and community. 
• Being a servant of God means I have meaningful and eternal work to accomplish. God does not call us to mundane, repetitive work; but rather to the greatest, most important task imaginable; we are called to participate in his redemptive work. 
• Being a servant means I have security. I do not need to worry about my safety or my future. My master will take care of me. If I trust that God is more powerful than any force, I can be certain He will not be overpowered or surprised by anything that comes into my life. Thus, I can trust his provision and protection, knowing whatever I face I do so by my master’s choice and with my master’s permission.

Therefore, suffering (or the entrance of undesired circumstances into my life) is nothing unexpected to my master, and therefore is is something about which I can be joyful. These aren't my ideas, but rather those of James, the brother of Jesus. He said:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds."

Truthfully, the key to understanding James 1:2 is found in James 1:1 and it is the word "servant". If I truly understand servant and sovereignty, I can count anything joy (including trials of various kinds) if I understand that I am a servant of God.

REM (musical group from the 1980s) said, “Everybody hurts.” The truth in this broken world is that everyone faces trials of some kind. For some the trials are extraordinarily difficult, life changing, horrific circumstances. For others, the trials are relatively much smaller.

James doesn’t differentiate between small trials and large trials, and thereby let those who suffer greatly off the hook. Rather, he says whatever the variety of trial may be, these truths still apply. No matter what your trial is, you can approach it with joy. After all, most of us, no matter how big our trials are will never face the scope of trials dealt with by Job or Jesus.

Even though we may not always bring our trials upon ourselves, often we are somewhat responsible for some of the circumstances leading up to our suffering. Even when we are not, we can always point to poor decisions we have made which mercifully did not lead to severe suffering. Jesus, however, never acted once in a way which deserved suffering. Yet, no one in history suffered more than he did when he died. Yet, he counted it joy because he counted himself as a suffering servant!