How can you refrain from condemning others and know how to deal with those who condemn you?

The answer to both questions is “honor”.

Church leaders tend to immediately love the idea of honor. With all the external influences on individuals spirituality, honor is hardly ever automatically given to them anymore.

But there’s a warning in Scripture about that attitude:

It is not good to eat too much honey,
nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor.
Proverbs 25:27 (New International Version)

And our Father gives us the path to receive honor:

Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.
1 Samuel 2:30 (New International Version)

The Son confirms it:

My Father will honor the one who serves me.
John 12:26 (New International Version)

It’s best we understand honor to know how it enables us to both refrain from condemning others and to also know how to deal with those who condemn us. Let’s start with an accepted definition:

Honor is the evaluation of a person’s trustworthiness and social status based on that individual’s espousals and actions. Honor is deemed exactly what determines a person’s character: whether or not the person reflects honesty, respect, integrity, or fairness. 
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor>

It’s natural to honor the honorable. The Bible confirms we are to honor those worthy of honor including the Father (Exodus 12:42) and the Son (John 5:23). But the Bible doesn’t let us off with living out such an ordinary definition of honor. I’ll explain more in the next post.

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