I Choose HonorSýnishorn

DAY FOUR: Honor the Woman at the Well

Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well is a great example of how being honored can change a person’s life. At that time, the Samaritans were the most undesirable of all peoples. They were mixed race and considered detestable by most Jewish people. But Jesus didn’t want to avoid Samaritans; He wanted His path to cross theirs.

During that time, women had no power to divorce, so for her to have remarried, her previous husbands would have had to divorce her, most likely because she was barren. To be unable to have children would have been devastating for the Samaritan woman. It is probable that she had given up hope to the point that she didn’t even bother getting married to the man with whom she lived. This was the woman Jesus asked to give Him a drink—a broken, shameful woman with little hope.

Our Jesus walked into that neighborhood where those people live, and chose the most shameful person in the village. In one swift encounter Jesus blew up cultural barriers that were keeping this community from experiencing His presence. And in the process He created a new circle of honor, taking another outcast and turning her into a person of influence, faith, and passion for His mission.