Showing honor is an important part of our responsibility to others. Honor, as used in New Testament times, had to do with the valuing process by which the price of an object was determined. It came to signify attaching a high value on someone or something. We have a similar idea expressed in our language. For example, a piece of furniture, worth very little to others, might be priceless to us because it belonged to someone very special. In such a case, it holds “sentimental value.”
As Christians, we should consider others to be of great personal worth. In a world which devalues human life, we are told to give “honor to all” (1 Pet. 2:17). We attach high value to others because one soul is worth more than all the world (Lk. 9:25). The precious value of a soul, when properly understood, will lead to the restoration of evangelistic zeal in the church.
Who should be more precious to us than our spiritual family, the church? Paul tells us to “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor…” (Rm. 12:10). We cannot “give preference to one another” while willfully absenting ourselves from our worship with fellow-Christians. Paul describes the practical effects of giving honor to one another in Philippians 2:3-4, where he writes, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Ours is a responsibility to honor both God and man.
— Glen Elliott —