HONOUR

The Lord has been dealing with me on the subject of honour for a couple of Months now. Ever since, I have seen the word honour in a different light. I have made a lot of discoveries from what He has been saying to me and I feel compelled to share some thoughts with you along this line. The word ‘honour’ means to treat someone with special respect. It means to regard someone highly. It also means to hold someone in high esteem. It’s is an attitude of the heart that is eventually displayed outwardly through our actions. True honour starts from the heart and is displayed outwardly through our actions. Honour is more displayed than spoken – you don’t just say you honour someone, you show it! Please read soberly and prayerfully because this could be the missing link in your life. In Malachi 1:6 the Lord Himself said this: “A son honoureth [his] father, and a servant his master: if then I [be] a father, where [is] mine honour? and if I [be] a master, where [is] my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests [people], that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?” This is coming straight from the heart of the Almighty God Himself. The first thing I want you to note here is that the Lord cares about how you treat Him. Yes, He does! A lot of times we are so quick to say “Lord, I honour you”, but in reality we despise Him. Jesus rightly said to the Jews, quoting from the Prophet Isaiah the very words God spoke to the Israelites through Isaiah: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me.” (Matthew 15:8). Honour cannot be hidden. It starts from the heart and is displayed outwardly through our actions. We can’t claim to live honourable lives when we don’t honour the Lord. That’s where it starts from – honour for God! Honour is reciprocal. The Lord said, through Prophet Samuel, in I Samuel 2:30b: “...but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” We must seek to earn the Lord’s honour and run away from anything that would make the Lord to lightly esteem us. You see, there’s no middle ground in this thing. It is either we are honouring the Lord or despising Him. We must be very careful about this. The difference between David and Saul was honour. Honour is a seed. When we sow honour we reap honour (Gen. 6:22, Gal. 6:7). This happens naturally. True honour for the Lord is also seen in our honour for other people. When we despise people, it is a sign that we despise the Lord. Honour is just like love, if we can’t honour people that we see with our optical eyes then how can we prove that we honour the Invisible God? How do you treat your subordinates? How do you treat those who serve you? How do you treat your gate man? These are indicators. For us to treat people with honour, we must first learn to see them with the eyes of honour. How do I mean? When you look at a man of low status with the eyes of honour, you simply raise him up to measure up and then you’d be able to demonstrate honour to him. The same works with love. So it matters how you see people? Giving, in its purest form, is a sign of honour. We give to honour people. We don’t only give because there is a need. We don’t only give to people because they are needy. We give to show our honour for people. This should actually be the motivation behind our giving. When we give to the Lord, we must remember that He doesn’t need anything – He owns the earth and everything in it (Psalm 24:1). We must ensure that our hearts are set on honouring the Lord when we give to Him if our goal is to truly honour Him with our substances. If not, we despise Him. In the Old Testament of the Bible we see a reoccurring event of kings giving gifts to kings. Sometimes you read about kings exchanging gifts. This is because giving in itself is a sign of honour not need. The Word of God tells us in Proverbs 3:9 “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Note it didn’t say “give to the Lord your substance.” No! The Lord is not needy, He’s not a man. Our hearts are meant to be set on honour for the Lord. What God gets from our offering is the honour we attach to it in our hearts – not the substance. So never despise your offering whether it’s small or large. Give whatever you have to the Lord with honour in your heart for Him, that’s what really counts. Honour for the Lord brings about the manifestation of the Anointing of the Holy Spirit both in our lives and in the gathering of believers. Wherever the Lord is honoured He shows up! When we honour the Lord in a meeting, the Holy Spirit is bound to manifest His presence practically. Sometimes we short-circuit the power of God in our lives or in our meetings just because we don’t show reverence for His presence. You don’t despise the Lord and expect Him to show up for good. In fact if He shows up when He is despised it could be for instant judgement. We must be very careful. Honour is the foundation on which we build other things in our spiritual lives. Once there’s no honour for the Lord, every other thing is just noise. When you see a man who honours the Lord, you will know it – it cannot be hidden because he is a carrier of God’s presence. God honours such a man with His presence. When we honour the Lord, He honours us with His manifest presence. The more we honour Him, the more of His presence we possess. How well we honour the Lord will greatly determine the quality of life we would live as believers here on earth. We honour the Lord by our life style. We honour the Lord by the way we talk. We honour the Lord by our obedience to the great commission. Honour is displayed by HOW we obey His instructions or commands. I believe the difference between David and Saul is honour. We honour the Lord by our love walk – loving Him and loving our neighbours as we love ourselves. If we are going to truly reach this world with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, we must live honourable lives. It is a must! The life that honours the Lord is that which esteems His Word above every other.