According to the thesaurus, honor has these synonyms: esteem, respect, pay homage to, assigning value to. The Greek word translated "honor" in our English Bibles, timao, means "to prize, i.e. fix a valuation upon; by implication, to revere" (Strong's Concordance). Showing honor, then, means treating another respectfully because we value them highly.
The level of honor one gives is determined by the amount of perceived value. In Malachi 1 God is speaking to Israel and asks this powerful question: Where is the honor due me? This question comes from the reality that while the Israelites said they honored God, He was not getting their best.
I remember hearing a story that paints this picture so well.
There was a man that sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin. He played for about 45 minutes. It was calculated that thousands of people went through the station on their way to work. Multiple people stopped for a minute but continued on their way. No one stopped for any lengthy period to listen to the violinist. It is said that only six people lingered for more than a peak and that the violinist collected $32 in donations. No one applauded and no recognition was given.
The people in the metro station had no idea that the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before he played at the metro station, Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100 per seat!
The only difference between the beginning of the story and the end is the value of listening to the violinist changed before your eyes. It was always there but the passerby in the busy metro station just did not know the value of what they heard. Thousands of people walked by but did not see the value that was in front of them so the treated the extraordinary as ordinary. They did not elevate and honor what was in front of them.
If we could ever see the letter that God wrote explaining the value of humanity we might see people differently. Yes, even the guy at work that you don’t like or the annoying person at school that just gets under your skin! If we could see what God sees I have a feeling we wouldn’t walk right by and treat what God sees as extraordinary so ordinary.
I will often ask the Lord to help me see what He sees. It is so easy for me to see actions, words, and differences in opinions. But behind all of that might seem frustrating is someone that God created, formed, loves, and has a purpose. I am not condoning wrongful actions but I am saying that God sees His purpose in every human life. I have a burning passion to help others who cannot see it themselves or maybe others cannot recognize their greatness, to see God’s purposes for them. I long to be a man who elevates others through Honor!
Blessings,
Scott