In the last devotional, I wrote about “True Honor”, one that is established on what the Lord deems important. In this devotional, I’m going to address “False Honor”, the kind of honor that doesn’t please God!
Empty words are a lip service to honor
These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. Matthew 15:8
Many act like they honor God because they have the right words, but their actions don’t follow suit. They have been around church long enough that they have the perfect language. Unfortunately, people can get so good at saying the right things that they start believing their own report. We can’t get distracted with all the religious pump and circumstance. Some think that if they are teaching and preaching the word of God, then they are living it. Sadly, some deceive themselves as to the true condition of their heart!
The above scripture is very revealing because it tells us that we can speak and act right but not necessarily be right with God or with each other. While we can’t change others or try to determine their motives, we have a responsibility to keep our hearts in congruence with our mouths. Otherwise we are in the danger of just growing in religious hypocrisy rather than being transformed by His power! That’s false honor to God.
Being partial to certain people is false honor
You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. Leviticus 19:15
When we are drawn to honor those who seem powerful, we become partial in our judgment! We build them up as more important in our minds. We perceive the weak and the poor as less significant and their lives not as important. One can deem the actions and the words of the mighty as more weighty than others and miss out on the great blessing of getting acquainted with someone who doesn’t have the worldly accolades.
God is not pleased with the kind of honor that is based on worldly value system. That’s false honor. God’s heart for us is to look after the orphans and the widows and be a voice for the voiceless. He commands us not to be partial towards the poor. The poor are those who have very little or no protection/provision.
If we are too busy to fit in with the popular/powerful, we will intentionally or unintentionally dismiss those who are important to the Lord. Potentially, we may have the power to assist in their situation if we gave our ears to listen to their predicament. They may also bless us by their testimony and their ability to overcome hardship.
The media is saturated by the news of the popular and powerful. The world honors the superstars who are perceived to be the heroes and examples to the rest of the population. At the same time, the Lord is not on their list of honor and neither are the elderly (parents) nor the marriage unit. As people of God, we are called to set the example of what truly is worthy of honor and give honor where honor is due according to God’s priority!
For comments, please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.