An Honor Lifestyle?

In our Take Me Deeper Bible study from His Kingdom Come this month, our theme is Honor. This week we explore having an Honor LIFESTYLE – or a culture of honor. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 says, “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge – God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1. If you set boundaries in an Honor Lifestyle, you don’t have to make decisions “in the moment.”

Once you know where you stand on any particular issue or cause or behavior, it becomes second nature to respond in that manner every time. For example, if you ask God to help you remain faithful in your marriage, then He will nudge you if you enter into situations that might lead to sinful behavior. Leave yourself open to those nudgings, and He will strengthen you.

2. An Honor Lifestyle helps us treat others with respect despite circumstances.

An Honor Lifestyle enables us to pass along respect – even when we don’t feel like it. Maybe we’ve had a tough day at work. And the washing machine broke this morning. And you had to do some grocery shopping – at 5:00 – when everyone else in town is doing their shopping, too. So when your teenager calls you and you’re standing in the checkout line, the last thing you need is to hear about their little fender bender. And then you step up to the smiling cashier who innocently says, “How are you today?” Your Honor Lifestyle “enriched you with all kinds of speech” so you don’t have to blow up at someone who had no reason to poke the growing balloon of your emotions. You can rely on the JOY of the LORD instead of the feelings of the moment to color your response.

3. An Honor Lifestyle points others to Christ Jesus.

I saw a church sign recently that said something like this, “Preach the LORD constantly. Speak only when necessary.” Sometimes our Honor Lifestyle is the only Bible that people ever read. It was difficult when my husband took a job 2 hours away from home, and we decided he would live there during the week for the duration of the school year. He took the job 3 days before the school year began, so there wasn’t time to sell our home and buy another – much less find a job for me. But as summer headed back around, we prayed for guidance on timing to put the house on the market. Everyone around us pushed for us to put it up in March, citing a slow market. But we believed God would guide us. When asked why we were waiting, we answered with confidence, “God will take care of us. He has a plan.” Well, His hand was evident when we showed the house for 4 days and got the full asking price. Everyone who had shaken their heads and rolled their eyes in judgement now had a new reason for shaking heads: direct evidence of God at work.

How do we maintain an Honor Lifestyle?

The true key to maintaining an Honor Lifestyle is to focus on building your relationship with Christ Jesus. “He will keep you firm to the end.” There are several tips to help you Grow Your Relationship with God included in my bookmark. All you have to do is sign up for the newsletter, and you’ll get a link!

My art continues the deconstructed flag theme I’ve chosen for the month. Look here for more details.

Isn’t our goal to be pointing others to Christ?