Student Leadership: HonorSample

Day 1 — The Honor Roll

Be the best at showing honor to each other. Romans 12:10b (CEB)

When you decide to follow Jesus, you sign up for the honor roll.

If you’ve been tracking with these Student Leadership reading plans, you’ve already studied a lot of principles. (We’ve talked about vision, ownership, generosity, and more!) However, honor may be the most difficult principle of all to apply. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. Our cancel culture combined with our sin nature make it incredibly hard to honor those who mistreat us — and yet, God calls us to honor everyone.

We’re called as leaders and image bearers of God to see and treat those around us the way God would, whether we think they deserve it or not. This is what makes honor different than respect. Respect can be earned and lost, but honor is freely given — even to the people who have lost our respect.

Joseph was no stranger to how hard it can be to choose honor. Sold by his own brothers into slavery, Joseph found himself terrified and alone in a foreign land. The Bible says God was with Joseph though, and blessed all he did. Eventually, his master, Potiphar, took notice, and Joseph was placed in charge of a very wealthy household. Potiphar admired Joseph. Unfortunately, so did Potiphar’s wife.

…and after a while, his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. Genesis 39:7-10 NIV

Joseph viewed this act as a sin against God — but the Ten Commandments hadn’t even been written yet. Interesting, right?! This proves Joseph wasn’t looking for an excuse, a loophole, or a justification to do what felt best in the moment — his heart was set on honoring God, which resulted in him honoring both Potiphar and Potiphar’s wife. The way we choose to honor people says more about us than it does about them.

Joseph’s decision to refuse Potiphar’s wife actually landed him in prison under false allegations. But he continued to honor everyone God placed in his path — as a slave, as a prisoner, and eventually, as a ruler.

*And it’s also worth noting that for Joseph to honor Potiphar’s wife, he actually had to run away from her. She was clearly not to be trusted, so he didn’t sit down and eat a meal with her. He honored her by putting a safe space between them.

Don’t wait until adversity comes to decide how you’re going to respond. Write down today what you want to be known for, and then commit to acting in a way that makes those things true of you. Integrity isn’t often picked in the heat of the moment — it’s pre-determined in your heart and mind.