Live in God's WillSample

                                       Part Two: What’s God’s Will for Us to Do?

DAY 10: Live in God’s will by doing good and honoring others. 

God’s will for us is to do good. Our good deeds do not save us, but they show that we are servants of God. What are we supposed to do that makes us different than people who don’t follow Jesus? 

God says we are to honor everyone. Each person is valuable and has great worth to God. Every person is made in the image of God and should be treated as such. When we honor someone, we intentionally seek to enhance their reputation instead of tearing it down through lies, gossip, or slander. Honoring someone means we are gracious toward them, offering them mercy when they mess up. We treat them with decency, dignity, and respect. We hold goodwill toward them in our hearts. 

Honoring others is a Biblical value that we must learn to live out properly. People honor those who fight for our country and those who have worked hard to make a difference in this world. This is a good thing. God wants us to go further and honor certain people because of their roles and positions even if they don’t have great accomplishments or exemplary character. 

Some specific people God mentions to honor are our parents (Exodus 20:12), the elderly (Leviticus 19:32), leaders of our government (1 Peter 2:17), leaders of our church (1 Timothy 5:17), and others who serve Christ (Philippians 2:29). When we read this list, we might start to feel defensive about why we don’t feel the need to honor some of these people. 

Our pride is what gets in the way of us appropriately honoring others. Our hearts would rather judge, find fault, and justify why certain people don’t deserve our respect or obedience. We are exhorted to think differently in Romans 12:10, where Paul says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” It may feel unnatural to honor and value others above ourselves because we might think of ourselves more highly than we ought. 

Sometimes, one of the more challenging groups of people to honor are those in the body of Christ. We expect believers to live out the principles found in the Bible perfectly. This is something we don’t even expect from ourselves. Our family, friends, and pastors are not perfect. They will sin and mess up. What will our response be? Will we judge, condemn, sideline, and walk away? Or, will we lovingly come alongside them, encourage them, and lift them up when they fail? That is what it looks like to honor an imperfect person. 

Another challenging group to honor is our leaders. Whether it’s our employer whom we think should lead the company in a different direction, or whoever is residing in office of our city, state or country, God expects us to honor them because they have been given that role of leadership by God (Romans 13:1-6). To be clear, if any leader asks us to do something that is against God’s Word, we are not to submit to them in those things. God is our highest authority. But if they are not asking us to do something against God’s Word, then we are called to honor them because of their position, not because of their character. We must realize that when we rebel against authority in our lives, we are actually rebelling against God. 

· What people do you struggle to honor? Why should you pursue honoring them? 

· Think about the leaders God has placed over you and your attitude toward them. Do you have ill repute toward them or feel resentment? Do you grumble and complain? Do you disdain them, disregard them, disrespect them, discredit them? Do you ridicule them, vilify them, verbally disapprove of them, or speak critically of them? What attitudes do you need to repent of?

PRAYER:

Lord, help me to honor others so that I am walking in Your will and living out Biblical values and not worldly ones. Lord, help me to honor my parents, my employer, my church leaders, and government officials. Please forgive me for my sinful attitudes toward them in my heart. Help me to honor them so that I honor You. Amen.