Born for Significance: Advancement and HonorIhe Atụ

Honor to the Highest

What does honor and advancement have to do with God? How should you feel about these topics? When the honor is for Him, it can mean everything. Allowing Him to become the One that your life is centered upon brings great reward that allows you to better know yourself and the One who created you. True honor and promotion will follow you when you understand the significance God has made you with and what He wants to do with your life.  

We don’t always find our significance by receiving, as though we were the focus of the world around us. So much of life in this kingdom is obtained by giving. The fullness of our lives is not measured in what we have. It’s measured in what we’ve given away. And one of the greatest gifts any of us could give is honor. It recognizes God’s grace upon a life that people often can’t see in themselves. It brings their attention to God, the designer, and to His work of wonder in them—His design.

Giving honor is a transaction of sorts, as it releases the mental, emotional, and spiritual nutrients needed by another human being. It is life. Giving honor to another is one of the most important expressions of God’s economy.

Honor is a necessary supplement to our diet for the inner man. But it’s not the meal. The meal comes from the Lord Himself through what He says about us in His Word. Yet the effect of this transaction of honor from people gives a context for our relationship with God to be measured through human connection.

God said, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18, NKJV). And while He is talking about marriage, the backdrop is our need for people. We were designed for human connection—not instead of a relationship with God but as a way of measuring the true effect of knowing Him.

Jesus drew our attention to the commandment “Honor your father and your mother.” Paul added the reminder that it comes with a promise.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on earth. 

—Ephesians 6:1–3

There it is. Honor releases life. It’s one of the ways God extends favor and life to the believer. Not only does honor release life, but often the measure of honor given is also used to determine the amount of blessing or favor given back. 

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

—Matthew 13:57–58

The absence of honor costs dearly. As we read in Matthew 13, the miracles that were designed for people in Jesus’ hometown never happened, as the absence of honor determined what they were able to receive. The Bible goes on to teach that honoring a prophet as a prophet gives us access to the prophet’s reward, which basically means it gives us access to the benefit of their ministry. The honor given determines the benefit received. Jesus used this principle in His discourse with His hometown of Nazareth in Luke 4:24–27:

And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

The absence of honor in their culture was the reason they could live within reach of the prophet Elijah, who brought about supernatural supply to the widow at Zarephath, and yet remain in financial need themselves. God took His prophet outside His covenant community to display His heart as a provider. He truly is the perfect Father who delights in being the God of abundance for us all. But Israel missed out entirely. 

It wasn’t because God wasn’t concerned or hadn’t made preparations for His people to be cared for. The opposite was true. Provision had been made, but their hands were filled with their own pride, which left no room for God’s supply. Pride repels the culture of honor. And honor in the kingdom gives access to the resources of His kingdom.