Honor

So today I'm going to be preaching on honor.

Specifically, I'm going to be preaching on honor as pertains to the scriptural perspective of honor.

! When we say honor, there's different definitions. People use this word totally different. Like you'll hear one person using the term honor and another person using the term honor.

They mean entirely different things. What the scripture means when he uses honor, the actual word from scripture means weight.

So when we honor people, it means that we are valuing them highly. We are giving them great weight.

Okay? And as we'll see, as we go through these scriptures, in our, let's say, selfish disposition toward honor, our primary relationship with honor can be demanding honor.

But as we'll see, as we go through scripture, the entire focus, virtually the entire focus, is on us bestowing honor to others.

It's not about us demanding honor. It's about us giving honor freely.

We live in a day and age, I believe, that has really lost the virtue of honor.

We don't live in an honor culture. We live in what's called cancel culture, where people's disgrace is what is sought after and advertised so as to dishonor them, rather than having a perspective of wanting to value people highly.

Also, as we'll see, one of the really important aspects about honor is honor is something, when you get it right, the wisdom and maturity of generations reverberates through generations.

Honor is one of the things that passes the wisdom and maturity, that passes the baton of wisdom and maturity, one generation to the next.

And we live in a day and age where, you know, not that long ago, I think it was said, you know, don't trust anything a person says who's older than 30.

And now we have our own version of that. That was back in the 1960s.

And now we have our own version of that where you hear people say things all the time, like, okay, boomer.

There's like these terms that people use, especially to those generations that go before them, that are particular terms of disgrace and dismissal.

The Lord has called us and wants us to understand that there's a perspective of when we honor, there is a blessing that reverberates through generations.

And when we get this wrong, we handicap younger generations.

Furthermore, there is a really unique aspect about honor that specifically creates healthy dynamics in the midst of distinction.

Honor loves distinction.

Honor is something that when we get right, the parts of us that are very different than other parts,

are able to have great teamwork communion.

We are able to perform in a way that there is excellence in unity, because honor is one of the things specifically that creates healthy relationship in the midst of distinction.

So I'm going to go over a couple of verses that are going to kind of create a framework here.

And then I'm going to go through a bunch of different verses in scripture to refer to honor.

The first one, Josh actually preached on this just a couple of months ago, but I'm going to preach on it as it pertains to this, which is the description of the body.

That I cannot say to the hand. Think of distinction here.

This is talking about distinction.

The eye cannot say to the hand. I have no need of you, nor can the hand to the feet. I have no need of you.

On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.

So the parts of the body that we think are easily cast aside are indispensable.

This is a really powerful word.

And those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow greater honor.

And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which are more presentable parts do not require.

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the parts that lack it, that there may be no division in the body.

So this whole principle of honor is one of the things that causes the opposite of division, which is unity.

But that the members may have the same care for one another.

If one member suffers, all suffer.

If one member is honored, all rejoice together.

There is an aspect of honored that knits us together as a body, but also even our own families in such a manner that distinctions in those of us who are better at things that are easily forgotten or easily dismissed are built up, appreciated in their distinction, and it creates unity in the midst of diversity.

Okay?

But also, it helps so that the body appropriately experiences and suffers together.

And what does it also say?

Rejoices together.

One of the things that can happen when we get honor wrong is that you can have a part, an indispensable part that is suffering and unacknowledged in isolation.

If we had more honor, we would all actually suffer together and rejoice together with them.

This is a really, really crucial thing, not only for us as a family of believers, but also for us to get right in our own homes.

Okay?

I'm going to go to the next.

This is the most famous verse on honor in all of Scripture.

Paul calls it the first commandment with a promise.

Again, think of honor as something that causes a blessing to reverberate through generations.

Exodus 20, 12.

Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land that your Lord God has given you.

One of the reasons why it's so important that we honor our parents, one of the reasons it's so important that we teach our children to honor their parents, is because there is a blessing at stake here.

There is an honor that produces a reverberation of wisdom and maturity through the generations.

I think because we do live in a day and age that is kind of more disgrace oriented, the opposite of honor, we can casually coast into tolerating dishonor in our own presence, in our own home, and in our own hearts.

And not actually see, there's actually very serious consequences.

Also, this is one of those things that we want things to go well for our children.

I was even just thinking in terms of what are some traditions that we can refer to that still do a good job of this.

I think one of them is like martial arts traditions.

You can kind of see where like lesson one is like honor the martial arts master.

We don't necessarily do that.

And you talk louder.

We don't necessarily do that.

But actually, that's a very important lesson one, because the wisdom he is trying to instill is not going to be instilled.

It's not going to reverberate through to his disciples unless you get that right.

And even us as parents, when we get this right, the wisdom we're trying to impart to our children, it is going to reverberate.

But when we kind of like care little about this, I think we actually miss some of the consequences that happen.

Furthermore, even us as adults, it says, honor your father and your mother.

As we get older, one of the things that can happen, does happen, is we start to have a more mature reflection on how our parents raised us.

One of the things that is very, very liberating, I think is one of the ways in which we can continue to have this verse mature in our hearts as we mature with years, is being able to see the ways in which your parents did things well.

And honor those things.

I'm so glad my parents taught me thus and so.

I'm so glad they actually carry that baton.

Your parents have given you a baton where you don't have to start all over again in life.

You can start from where they started, where they handed it to you.

Subsequently, we can also honor our parents.

I'm talking about as adults here.

The areas in which they failed us, to be able to let go of that and actually have forgiveness, and let that not be something that perpetually taint our disposition towards our parents.

It's very honoring towards our parents for us to be able to let those things go.

And don't we want our kids to be able to do that one day?

One day our kids are going to be able to see how we really fail with them.

We really want them to carry the baton of what we did well, and we really want them to let go of the things we did not.

Right?

And one of the things we're going to see, again, as we go through other scriptures, one of the things that's at stake here when you don't do this well is being overly quarrelsome and contentious.

When we don't have a good relationship with honor, it creates division.

That's even what's said in the last message.

All right?

All right, I'm going to keep on going.

Philippians 2, verse 3.

Philippians 2:3

There are so many verses on honor in scripture.

The Lord cares a lot about this.

Even though we don't talk about it very much, the Lord actually cares a lot about this.

Philippians 2, verse 3.

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or bane conceit.

This is arrogance.

Rather, in humility, value others above yourself.

I think one of the most important things here when we're talking about honor is that if we receive this from the Lord and just think about all the ways in which other people aren't honoring us, we totally miss the mark.

The Lord wants us to receive this insofar as we are extending honor to other people.

And when we can have conviction and maturity in receiving the word of the Lord, what really can change is the way that we are extending honor rather than our entitlement towards how we want to receive honor.

And I think this is one of those things where there is an arrogance that demands honor, but there is a humility that values others higher than ourselves.

And that, I believe, is the real catalyst for us to be able to create a culture of honor, both in the body but also in our homes.

Proverbs 20, verse 3.

Proverbs 20:3

It is to one's honor to avoid strife.

Again, there's actually a real tension between being quarrelsome and having a poor relationship with honor.

Again, this is the day and age we live in.

We live in a very quarrelsome day and age.

We live in a day and age that is very prone to have strife over distinction rather than being able to actually honor one another who are different.

It is to one's honor to avoid strife.

But every fool is quick to quarrel.

There is quarrels in this when we lose vision for honor.

We need to have this humility that values others want.

1 Timothy 5, verses 1 and 2.

1 Timothy 5:1

I think this is an echo of that same verse.

Honor thy father and thy mother.

Can you guys hear me very good?

Can you hear me back there?

Do you want to talk louder?

Okay, good.

1 Timothy 5, starting in verse 1.

Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father.

There is a way that honor creates a good relationship one generation to the next.

We should not be correcting our parents, even us as adults, in the same way that we would appear.

And we should also not be correcting those who are older than us, like those of that next generation, in the same way that we would an equal.

We just shouldn't.

That's one of the ways in which we can have a strong relationship with honoring.

When we are seeking that their wisdom and their maturity would reverberate through the generations.

We should seek to honor them.

This is actually one of the things that's been really helpful for me and Evangeline both, especially dealing with our in-laws.

We actually quote this verse to each other.

Because, you know, as you get older, you also have a familial relationship.

We get more comfortable in our familial relationships.

It's harder for me to honor my wife because there's less social rules.

We're more our raw self.

It's harder for us to honor our parents.

One of the things we actually say to each other is you can't rebuke them.

There's so many things that come up where it's very tempting to just let your parents have them.

You know what I'm saying?

There's so many things.

And this also pertains to spouses.

We're going to get to that.

I believe it's harder to honor those who are more relationally near us, especially those of our own household.

Okay?

Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father.

Younger men as brothers.

Older women as mothers.

Younger women as sisters in all purity.

It's a really healthy thing for us to get this right as a body that we teach our children and our examples to our children of treating older women and older men as like fathers and mothers.

It's really good for us to have these familial principles in place.

It's one of the ways in which we can actually set our children up for success because this is actually an opportunity for us to embody some of these things, even as adults, I believe.

Romans 12, 10.

Be devoted to one another in love.

Honor one another above yourself.

Again, same thing.

Having this disposition where we are trying to extend honor to others.

That's the primary goal.

Me extending honor to others.

Proverbs 18, 12.

I'm doing really good for time.

Proverbs 18, 12.

Before destruction.

A man's heart is haughty.

But humility.

Comes before.

Honor.

So again, this distinction.

There's an arrogance that leads to destruction.

But there's a humility that produces honor.

And actually probably just as a theme.

I think one of the main things that gets in our way of honoring other people's.

Honoring other people well is our own arrogance.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We are in the way of our ability to value others well.

And this applies to our relationship with the wives.

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way.

Showing honor to the women as the weaker vessel.

Since they are heirs with you.

So again, think inheritance here.

They are heirs with you of the grace of life.

So this is Paul's.

This is Paul's term for the fruit of honor.

He's calling it the grace of life.

And there is an inheritance that comes.

It's called the grace of life.

Which is the opposite of disgrace.

Okay.

There's a grace of life that comes.

When we get honor correctly in our marriages.

So that your prayers may not be hindered.

I'm going to pick apart this verse.

Live with your wives in an understanding way.

The Lord has fashioned women as such.

They have understanding.

The embodiment of wisdom in the Old Testament is a woman.

And for those of you who are married.

The Lord has given you a woman.

Who is to portray and communicate wisdom.

That you might understand.

When we believe that our wife is imparting wisdom to us.

We can understand it.

And we can live differently.

Which is called living with your wife in an understanding way.

When we dismiss them.

When we just try to appease them.

This is negating.

The fruit that comes.

From listening to your wife.

With understanding.

As if she.

Is actual vehicle.

Of the wisdom that comes from the Lord.

Next part.

Showing honor.

So I think.

Again think.

Valuing highly.

Showing honor to the woman.

As the weaker vessel.

Women are more of fine china.

Men are more of tin cans.

There is a distinction.

In the actual makeup.

Of women.

Than men.

For good reason.

This is one of the opportunities again to honor.

Think distinction here.

Honor.

Helps.

Distinction.

Have its full form.

Its full valuable form.

One of the ways that.

The Lord has created women.

Is he has heightened their sensitivity to life.

Now you could choose to believe.

That that is a mistake.

It is not a mistake.

It is a feature.

Not a bug.

One of the things that just happened the other day.

Is I came into our workout room.

And I had.

We have cold plunge.

I drink all the water out of it.

And there was a little bit of water.

I could not smell at all.

So I went ahead and fixed it.

And I fixed it.

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for her being in that room because she gets smelled really strongly i could not smell it at all

so i went ahead and fixed it there is something about women

this is biological guys that are more sensitive to the nuances of life and those nuances of life

because of their heightened sensitivity actually affects them more just the other night there was

that thunderstorm and our dog nala was inside and it was super tormenting chary she was having

such a hard time and it's not because she's some young dog that hasn't experienced lightning

storms she's experienced them tons it's because she has better sense of hearing and it literally

hurts her eardrums when it's really loud the lord has fashioned women so they are more sensitive to

life so they pick up on a lot of things that men do not pick up on and men can appreciate them for

that and honor them in that and protect them better for that and seek out what they what wisdom they

have to portray or men can be yet another thing that is painful and difficult and overwhelming in life

but here's let me just tell you husbands this is what's going to happen we can get home from work

my wife does me all the time okay by the way i really suck at this i'm like speaking as the person

who's done this really poorly so it says if you want to speak with confidence i'm not good at this

evangelist told me on friday she was like man i wish you were preaching on honor all the time

i've been feeling convicted by these things that have been treated very different she's like and

maybe you should just do like a series on honor

okay i'm gonna give you guys a scenario come over to work and your wife has a report that she would

like to give you it reminds me of that episode in the office when corporate sends like a corporate review

to michael and pam prints it out for him and it's like the profit and laws and the performance and

they're like maybe going to get shut down as a branch it's like a really important document they send

over this corporate evaluation and pam prints it out for him and brings it to his desk and he picks it up

and throws it right in the trash your wives are designed such they are more in tune and making up on

things faster than you are and more accurately than you are and you are coming home and i'm wanting

to give you a report on not only how things are going but how things are going such that is

significantly affecting them the only things we do as husbands this is not honoring our life as the

weaker vessel because we pick it up we throw it in the trash or even worse than that we attack them and

treat them as an enemy so now they're overwhelmed by life because of their increased sensitivity life

does affect them more significantly to us and we can see that as a strength or we can treat it as like

a flaw we can see that as a feature we can see that as a bug and what we do we can get offended we can

fight with them we can be yet another thing that is devastating and shattering to them right i think one

of the things that i want to be a champion for a champion for femininity in these regards is i think

when women are honored well in these things they're able to be more feminine because they are able to not

feel the pressure to defend themselves all the time they're able to be free they will be free to be nurturing

they will be free to be a fountain of wisdom and nuance but i think a lot of modern day women feel like

they are the only thing that can protect themselves and they've kind of given up and having vision

for this kind of femininity and here's a really good question actually both for husbands and wives but

just in general when you're around does your wife feel like she can take a huge sigh of relief does she

feel like she can be more free like she can doesn't need to defend herself so much or when you're around

does she feel like she needs to be more defensive and more on guard because you're one of the you're

one of the additional things that this answer it's a really good question also how do women feel when

they're around you do women feel honored do they feel like you are extending additional uh

protective care honoring them as a weaker vessel they feel like they have to be really careful and on

guard around you and not that you see what's really going on with them etc etc guys this is what it means

to be a gentle man there's a historical term we use for honorable men and it's men who are gentle towards

women men who use their strength for and to protect women not to take advantage of them and we have

lived in unfortunate we unfortunately live in a day and age where this is not the norm that is the

exception not the rule and many women care around carry around a strong defensiveness towards men because

men are the thing they do fear and probably should fear the most because there is whatever that thing

that reverberates through generations honor there is an honor in this i think historically men felt the burden

to instill in one another you don't treat women like that that has just been lost it's one of the

things that's been lost one blessing like one generation to the next i think it's really really been lost

and i think that women um are more unsafe towards men because men are less honorable towards them

and there's something we can really fight for as far as femininity in the same age whenever we do this well

also this is just food for thought how many of you guys how many of us really wish that our mom was more

nurturing more caring more at peace and more of a wellspring of life versus resentful bitter um

um guarded defensive reactive there's something that's really really beautiful about femininity when

it's treated with honor and cause them to not feel women that's what actually the scripture says she will

not feel what is frightful she will laugh the days to come that is a woman who is not feeling like she has

to be on guard all the time that she can face the adversity of life with confidence this is a hallmark

of femininity that women maintain their vulnerability towards life despite its danger this is one of the

things we as men us as a body also us in our homes can do well to set our wives up for success

problems for eight

prize her highly and she will exalt you she will honor you if you embrace her there is a thing in men that

was to demand honor and demand respect according to this verse how will she exalt you when you prize her

highly i think one of the things that does exasperate women does exasperate our lives

is when we are always prizing other things all the time and she sees it and we're never doing that

towards her there's kind of like uh there was i was listening to a comedian weeks ago he was talking about

why is it that every time i sit down to watch the game with my boys my wife decides that that's the time

she's going to come over and stand in front of the tv and all of a sudden went all my attention

it was like a joke it was like a relatable joke and i was actually thinking i was like i know exactly

why she's doing that it's because she sees you rising something that she wants you to do that to her

she sees you giving your entire full attention and presence to one thing and you're not doing it to

her so she sees you doing that your kids will actually start doing the same thing as well

our kids see us men giving our full attention and rising things and not doing that for them

prize her highly and she will exalt you i think it makes men very easy to honor and respect

when we are doing this well towards our lives it makes it very very hard when we're being very

dismissive of them even back to the board living with your wife in an understanding way right she

will honor you if you embrace her which is this kind of like the old um adage wait when what love men

won't respect there is an extent to which it makes it easy for our wives to honor us when we are being

loving and affectionate towards them okay well you're sitting in front of it

proverbs 11 16 a kind-hearted woman gains honor but ruthless main ruthless men gain only wealth

again this is kind of an echo of the same thing there's something about femininity

that's what it means when it maintains an open heart is so distinct so beautiful and it does

things that men came out to i think one of the things that's a huge challenge for women in this

day and age is maintaining kind-heartedness another passage says open-heartedness or sorry another

translation says open-heartedness there's a lot of women who are very um closed off because they've

been taken advantage of um the the world um is feels too dangerous for them right a kind-hearted woman

gains honor i would really really encourage you ladies i hope that some of the things i'm saying are

are landing and uh are relatable i really encourage you ladies if you have been chewed up and spit out i

would really really encourage you to not only take that to the lord but know that whenever you are able to

maintain that position of vulnerability towards life it makes you easier to honor

it's very easy to honor and cries and value a woman who maintains her kind-heartedness towards life

that's not that's not a pass on our contribution towards women feeling chained by men that's not a pass

but it is the case when women maintain that open-heartedness towards life it is so much easier to

appreciate their distinction of femininity

poverbs 3 35 the wise will inherit honor but fools get disgrace again the consequence of us missing

on honor is disgrace again we live in a day and age where disgrace is the theme of the day

we're here in grandview there was just enormous disgrace on ihop with you know the fall of mike pickle

disgrace is everywhere in the church you know what i mean may we not be so may that not be our inheritance

both as a church but also in our own homes

all right back to the theme of honor reverberating wisdom to new generations first timothy 5 17

let the elders who rule well but considered worthy of double honor so there's there's something about how we can relate to our elders in the church that extends them honor and i believe the same exact thing we want them to pass the baton to us we are running

the elders to be able to instill wisdom and maturity in us we make that easy we capture that baton by honoring them he even says double honor

i'm going to read one more passage and i'm going to read a long quote by c.s lewis

that josh just read to me uh in our work that's just a couple weeks ago it's a really good quote

first peter 2 13-17 be subject be subject for the lord's sake to every human institution

whether it be to the emperor supreme or to the governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil

and to praise those who do good for this is the will of god that by doing good you should put to silence

the ignorance of foolish people live as people who are free not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil

but living as a servant of god

honor everyone love the brotherhood fear god honor the emperor

god i'm saying a lot of these things but we have reference to the body and also by way of reference

to our own personal homes but according to first peter we're actually committed to honor everyone

when we

give weight to what the scripture is saying it helps us to be able to be a light according to god's tradition

rather than kind of just giving into the spirit of the age i think even as we're trying to be missional

even as we're trying to advance the kingdom of god as a church one of the things that

things really important to remember and not give into is there we're in a spirit in a day and age

where even prominent christian figures is very much the norm to be very very demeaning and dishonoring

especially towards those they disagree with i think it's really important for us to remember that

these things don't just apply to our marriage and in our body but they also apply to literally everyone

make on the cross i think it is a um very much makes the gospel the the uh it makes the way straight for

the gospel when we're able to be extremely honoring to those especially um in the household of god etc but

also even those who very much disagree with us or whose whose lives we have a really hard time with

i think that honor if we can do honor right it's something that um what is it it's like a missing

piece in uh the virtues of this day and age that are really like i actually thinking actually even

michael especially with um unbelievers and just people he knows but one of the things that's really

a hallmark of michael he is so curious about meeting new people he's really really good

at completely um wanting to get to know them and wanting to understand their distinctions and

nuance and what they are really good at and he's a really quick technology it's one of the things

that's really wonderful about michael i think it's one of the reasons why things have gone so well for

him in many regards is because he has such an aptitude and belief that every single person is really

distinct and really unique and worthy of on he's really good at extending it to people especially

people he's like doesn't know at all it's a really awesome thing and i think that even as we're being

missional that's a really good thing for us to be really deeply considering is being honoring you

know the last one first timothy chapter 5 verse 3 it says honor widows who are truly widows i think

1 Timothy 5:3

this is again kind of the same callback to the body there are certain people that are easy to dismiss

there are certain people that are easy to forget i think this is how some of the moms feel at home

where they're doing all these things or making only sacrifices and nobody sees it

there are certain members of the body right now he's saying honor widows who are easy to miss and easy

to dismiss easy to overlook the scripture calls us specifically to honor them are we honoring them

all right i'm going to end with

this quote from c.s lewis some of you guys have heard this before he's specifically talking about

what the essence of praise is but i think it gets to the heart of um one of the ways in which we can

cultivate the soil of our own heart in the area of honor because basically it's going to get down to

what do we really enjoy i think when we enjoy distinction when we enjoy um these aspects of

one another and of life it makes honor really easy

this is c.s lewis this one was reflections on the psalms the most obvious fact about praise

whether of god or anything strangely escaped me i thought of it in terms of compliment approval the

giving of honor i had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise

unless shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it

the world rings with praise lovers praising their mistresses readers their favorite poet walkers

praising the countryside players praising their favorite game praise of weather wine dishes actors

motors forces colleges countries historical personages children flowers mountains rare stamps

rare beetles even sometimes politicians or scholars i had not noticed how the humblest

and at all the same time most balanced and capacious minds praised most while the cranks misfits and

malcontents praised the least except where intolerable adverse circumstances interfere praise almost

praise almost seems to be inner health made audible really interesting inner health made audible i had not noticed

that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising

isn't she lovely wasn't it glorious don't you think that magnificent the psalmist in telling everyone to praise god

are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about my whole more general difficulty about praise of god

i am dependent on my absurdly denying to us as a reward that as regards the supremely valuable what we delight to do

what we indeed can't help doing about everything else we value i think we delight to praise

i think we delight to praise what we enjoy because we praise not merely because the praise not merely expresses

but completes the enjoyment it is its appointed consummation it is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are

the delight is incomplete until it's expressed if it were possible for a creative soul to fully appreciate that is to love and delight in the worthiest object of all in simultaneously at every moment to give us the light perfect expression

then that soul would be in supreme beatitude the scottish catechism says that man's chief end is to glorify god and enjoy him forever

but we shall then know that these are the same thing fully to enjoy is to glorify and commanding us to glorify him

god is inviting us to enjoy him and i just want to add to that that i think one of the keys that unlocks a lot of this stuff is us actually seeing how the lord has made things and how the lord has made things beautiful

each member men and women even relationship with their children even our relationship with unbelievers

there is a certain beauty that can actually be appreciated you can actually appreciate and it makes it really easy to honor it

and i think that one of the things that i think is a good place to start is just check our own hearts

both for arrogance you know that produces the opposite but also i think for what are we really enjoying do we

like the distinctions that the lord has created one of the things i think is really really cool is like if

you can even see this in sports where you'll have a superstar like have a buzzer beater and then there'll be a

press conference afterwards and people are just wanting to praise him for how awesome a job he does

but it's really honorable when you see these guys be like actually um i know i made the shot and everything

if he hadn't uh you know if he hadn't made that layup for me then i wouldn't be able or like another

one would be like you know that great touchdown grab is like yeah but my other receiver he actually

abandoned his wrap and blocked the safety he hadn't done that he would attack with me i wouldn't

make the touchdown just like acknowledging that which is easy to miss it's a really beautiful thing i think

there's an aspect of honor where the lord is emphasizing the aspects that need to be honored that are

really really easy for us to miss and i think it actually reveals what we care about what we love and

how much we actually enjoy distinction in what we honor and i think there's part of us that wants honor

but also is really annoyed at all of the um sharp edges that rub into each other when people are

really really different than you or when you have a lot of distinction or when your wife is really

really different than you there are these ways in which the lord has actually fashioned us that we can

actually really appreciate and see as beautiful as created by him or we can just be inconvenienced by

and be really um maybe entitled to honor ourselves can be very slow to extend it to others i think this

is one of those topics where as the lord matures because in our hearts i think what a beautiful thing

for our children to actually honor us and seek the maturity wisdom that can work right through the

generations same thing towards our parents same thing towards those who are as fathers and mothers same

things to our relationship with our elders same things to us as an entire body that a beautiful

representation of the body is us being a team and doing something together we can never have done

by ourselves actually that's one of the things most been most encouraging to me about man camp

is one of the things that's been really cool to see is on monday nights how much different guys

that are equipped so differently are so quick to be helping in counseling and it's just been one of the

the best demonstration of teamwork um that i've seen so far in this young church plant it's one of the

things i actually long for it even more that there would be no bench warmers in our body you know what

i mean both because of how we treat and have low honor towards one another but also what we believed

about ourselves and i should just be a bench warmer and i think that's the case there are no bench warmers in

the body of christ there is no one who is discarding there is no one who is just dispensable that's

what the scripture at the beginning there was rebuking us for may we be a body where it is all hands on deck

everyone feels highly valued in their contribution and highly valued in their distinction and they

don't look at another person who maybe it's easier to see their contribution and look at themselves

as like having nothing to actually contribute and for the people that are in those positions

before the lord we need to go the extra mile and show extra honor to them there's a lot of things

that happen behind the scenes that we don't even have to like pay any attention to but actually there

is a a heart that is feeling less connected to the rest of the body less appreciated for its distinction

because it's actually not receiving honor and what honor is one of the ways in which the lord

solves for that it's one of the ways in which the body is healthy