Prayer to Cultivate an Environment of Honor | Daily Prayer
Honor is the atmosphere in which the people of God become their best.
Increasing emphasis has been given in recent years to the subject of honor. In our family and church, we have worked to develop what we call “the culture of honor.”
It is more than an action; it is a core value that affects all of life. And as such, its importance is hard to exaggerate.
Honor comes from a heart of excellence. Honor is how we display value. If I had a priceless vase, I probably would not put it on the back patio where it would be exposed to the weather or my young grandchildren.
I would create a safe place for it where I could display its beauty for anyone who enters my home. It would have a place of honor.
Honor is one of the clearest expressions of love that I know. It creates a healthful and purposeful environment that enables people to become their best.
Consider this: There is an act of honor, and then there is a lifestyle of honor. The latter acts like a greenhouse. It is an environment that enables the plants—the family, workplace or church—to grow more easily.
An honorable lifestyle creates the atmosphere that enables the growth of all things good.
Leaders who want a culture of honor so they will be treated better miss the point entirely. That would be like a father or mother coming home from work expecting the whole family to rally around him or her, tending to every need.
I used to remind myself on my way home from a day at the office, “Bill, you’re not off work yet. You still have four hours.” In other words, my wife had worked hard all day caring for the children.
She needed my love, my help and support. My kids had been without their dad all day, and they wanted and needed to play.
As I walked through the door, I could hear the sound of tiny feet running toward me and voices yelling, “Daddy!” It was the most beautiful sound in the whole world. To ignore that and then require them to serve me would have been absolutely heartless and foolish.
I hugged and kissed my wife and then wrestled with my kids. Giving them time and pleasure was giving them honor. By honoring them, I got better, too.
The difficult issues of the day seemed to disappear in the atmosphere created for the sake of others.
As a leader, I am the one who sets the standard for how honor will be lived out. If my culture of honor is based on corporate structure, it will do nothing more than exalt the greatest at the expense of the least.
That is how the corporate ladder was formed. Many churches function this way. Honor has become the act of giving to those who are powerful, with special attention for those who have achieved much.
Rather, honor should be given before there is the capacity to achieve. It should be given based on who people are, not just what they have done. The infant on my lap and the toddler in my arms are incapable of achieving much.
But loving them and giving them honor happens because I see what is yet unseen. The heart that honors others sees things in them that they do not see. It is as though God opens the eyes of the honorable because He can trust them to give the response of love.
A true culture of honor must have impact on the least among us, or it is not really our culture. And because that atmosphere draws out the potential of people long before they see it in themselves, it has that greenhouse effect. Honor brings out the greatness that lies hidden.
In our homes, places of employment and churches, we “do life” with other believers. Our relationships within these areas are healthier if we approach them with the concept of healthy family life.
Once we leave the concept of family, we leave the concept of Kingdom. It is this approach that makes living with honor—the true expression of love—possible.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, You honor me as Your child, even though I do not fully understand all that is meant by that expression of Your great love. By Your grace operating in me, I purpose to honor others into their potential.
Please help me to see the moments that I might miss and display Your love in a way that honors people and glorifies You. This is the culture I embrace for the glory of God!
Confession
God Himself has honored me by calling me His own. I did nothing to earn this honor, yet He gives it to me liberally. I declare that it is my privilege to recognize the significance of others and display it through honor.
For I know that when I have done this for the least among us, I have done it for God Himself.
