If you place value on honor, in time, your thinking and behavior will change. If you are waiting for that magic moment in time, where you will be able to show “honor” to someone in a really big way, . . . in public, . . . for all to see, and take notice of . . . you have missed it. You don’t have to take a bullet for someone in order to show honor.
In fact, if you don’t show honor in the small things, you won’t show honor in the big things. Honor embraces humility and looks for opportunities to make others look good. It is not self-centered, but rather, other focused.
Developing a Culture of Honor
In order to develop a culture of honor in your own heart, start by look for the small opportunities to demonstrate honor to others. For example, opening a door for someone when walking into the local convenience store, or purposefully allowing someone to cut in front of you in traffic when there is a long line. It might even be parking in the back of the parking lot so that someone else can have a closer spot . . . when it rains.
Honor builds people up, it does not insult. Honor encourages people, it does not embrace sarcasm. It is purposeful and looks for these opportunities, it does not happen across them. It’s the small acts of honor that will change a life, especially yours.
Look for opportunities to publicly show honor. For example, if one of your children brings home an A on a paper that they spent a lot of time working on, make a big deal of it . . . in front of other people. When you do, not only will it encourage them, but you will be demonstrating to your child what honor looks like. As a side note, you’ll be showing everybody else what it looks like too. Honor celebrates other people. It puts them on a pedestal for all to recognize.
Honor Influences People
For the last several months, I have made it a point to open the door for others when walking into my local convenience store on my way to work. To a person, every time I did so, it either brought a smile to their face, or a “Thank you” from their lips.
This practice of honoring others developed in other areas of my life as well. Honor now governs my life. It has shaped my thinking, my attitude and behavior. Now that a culture of honor has taken root in my heart, I now look to develop a culture of honor to those within my influence, . . . even to the people who make my breakfast at the local convenience store on my way to work. Here’s what happened . . . .
Each day, I order a specific breakfast burrito, one with extra parmesan cheese, extra chipolata sauce, and extra diced tomatoes. There are several people that *can* make my burrito, but there is one that does it just right. One day, I decided to really go way out of my way to praise her publicly for making the perfect breakfast burrito. She got a little embarrassed, because I had make such a big deal of it, from that day on, she made it a point to look for my order and make my burrito, just the way I liked it, every time I came into the store. One small act of honor on my part changed her behavior, and it brought a smile to her face every time I walked into that convenience store.
Serving Others Honors The Lord
Serving is a natural bi-product of honor. When one serves others as an expression of love, this in turn, shows honor to God. Each act of service brings honor to God, from the smallest act of service, to great sacrifices that are made on behalf of others. He sees them all, and does not overlook even the smallest act of kindness. Like a shark that can smell blood in the water a mile away, the Lord can smell honor. Honor is an aroma to the Lord, and it pleases him to no end, especially when you choose to make honor a way of living.
Make it a point to demonstrate honor today by publicly celebrating an accomplishment of someone you come across today. Watch what it does to their countenance. Make this a habit, and you will find that your influence will grow exponentially.