Honorable

[Michael37]

1 hour ago, Christs Bandit said:

Well, as a Christian, no person is worthy.  The flesh or what is 'honorable' is besides the point of being a Christian.  Unless you are teaching worldy people about the word honorable, it has not relation to the Christian.  Jesus said, no one is good, except the Father,  That pretty much sums it up.  

Look, if you want definitions then read Funk and Wagnals Dictionary, but as Christians, none of us are worthy to be saved, and we rely on faith that Jesus died for our sins.  

Have it your way, @Christs Bandit, but I'm going this way with this Scripture:

Col 1:9-14  For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;  (10)  that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;  (11)  strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;  (12)  giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  (13)  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,  (14)  in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
 

[LearningToLetGo]

To be honorable is to be truthful: truthful with others; truthful with yourself, and truthful with God. Truthfulness, however, is not easy.

[missmuffet]

11 hours ago, Christs Bandit said:

Well, as a Christian, no person is worthy.  The flesh or what is 'honorable' is besides the point of being a Christian.  Unless you are teaching worldy people about the word honorable, it has not relation to the Christian.  Jesus said, no one is good, except the Father,  That pretty much sums it up.  

 

Look, if you want definitions then read Funk and Wagnals Dictionary, but as Christians, none of us are worthy to be saved, and we rely on faith that Jesus died for our sins.  

I do not agree. I think there are honorable born again Christians in our world today. 

[debrakay]

Don't you love is @missmuffet?!  You get twenty different answers from twenty different people and all are viable answers.  I do not think that any honorable person seeks honor.  The most honorable people I know in my life are the most humble I have met.  They do almost everything to please others and walk quietly, but powerfully through life.  They live life without fear and love the Lord with all their might.  They could care less about any honor but care very much for every person in their lives.  They are the most beautiful souls I know here on this earth.  Everything about them shines, JESUS!!   

[missmuffet]

6 minutes ago, debrakay said:

Don't you love is @missmuffet?!  You get twenty different answers from twenty different people and all are viable answers.  I do not think that any honorable person seeks honor.  The most honorable people I know in my life are the most humble I have met.  They do almost everything to please others and walk quietly, but powerfully through life.  They live life without fear and love the Lord with all their might.  They could care less about any honor but care very much for every person in their lives.  They are the most beautiful souls I know here on this earth.  Everything about them shines, JESUS!!   

Being humble is very important in the Christian world. 

[missmuffet]

2 hours ago, HopeInHim said:

I think to be truthful with yourself is a big one- possibly the greatest factor of all. Many may try to convince themselves that they are honorable when they may actually be living in denial- an unexamined life. It is in fact the opposite of being honorable. 
 

I’m not sure I see what benefit it gives to try to pick out who is “honorable”and “not honorable”. Only God knows the heart, and the Bible tells us that the human heart is, above all else, desperately wicked. Placing any esteem, faith or trust in humans on this earth who I may have tried to identify as “honorable” is, in the end, misplaced trust.

Deceiving oneself could be very dangerous. 

[missmuffet]

9 minutes ago, Christs Bandit said:

You may not agree, but the Lord says there is no one who is good or honorable.  

Mark 10:

¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’

 

So you see that Jesus does not label anyone as being good, honorable, or any other words of praise of greatness.  The gospel is against men praising each other.  The only one worthy is God, Jesus even declined to call his person good, because the flesh cannot obtain the Kingdom of Heaven.  This world is ruled by Satan.

Suit yourself.

[Michael37]

56 minutes ago, Christs Bandit said:

Getting to the point, Corinthians says all we need to know, that envy is not one of the attributes of love, so therefore you cannot honor another person without envying them.  If you can do so then please explain how.

Honor is a word made up by people to give praise to other people with certain great achievements or attributes.  It doesn't hold any ground with God or Jesus.  Nothing we achieve or do promotes us to be more worthy to the God except having faith that his son died as a ransom for us.  Plain and simple.

And yet Scripture upholds the honouring of certain others:

Exo 20:12  "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
Lev 19:32  'You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD.

Rom 12:10-13  Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;  (11)  not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;  (12)  rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;  (13)  distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Rom 13:7  Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

1Ti 5:17  Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

1Ti 6:1  Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.

1Pe 2:17  Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

1Pe 3:7  Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

. . . Value someone today. It's Biblical . . . 

[missmuffet]

19 minutes ago, HopeInHim said:

Does the command to “honor” imply that the ones to be honored are honorable?

Many have mothers and fathers who are not at all “honorable”.

That is true but still the Bible tells us to honor your mother and father.

[missmuffet]

50 minutes ago, HopeInHim said:

What do you think that means/looks like to honor a person who is not “honorable” (according to your definition)?

That is a tough one but I have read the following explanation and I think it is good. I would support it.

How do we honor an abusive parent?

ANSWER

It would be so much easier if God had asked only that we honor our parents if they are good, kind and loving to us, but the command of Exodus 20:12 is “Honor your father and mother,” period. Ephesians 6:1 says to “obey” them. There are many hurt and damaged people who find these commands nearly impossible to obey. Should we honor and obey an abusive parent? Where do we draw the line?

Abuse comes in many forms. A child can be brought up well clothed and fed with all his needs supplied except for the all-important need for love and approval. No physical harm is ever done to him, yet, as each year goes by, his spirit shrivels up inside him more and more, as a plant will shrivel without sunlight, desperate for the smallest demonstration of affection. Eventually, he grows to adulthood; everything seems to be normal, yet he is crippled inside by the indifference of his parents.

Then again, a child’s spirit may be broken at an early age—even though he suffers no physical abuse—by being constantly told that he is useless and a waste of space. Everything he attempts is sneered at until he gives up trying to do anything at all. Because very young children naturally believe what their parents say about them, the child who suffers this treatment will gradually withdraw into himself, retiring behind an invisible wall and simply existing rather than living. These children grow up never suffering physically at the hands of their parents but nevertheless crippled in their spirits. As grown-ups, they find it difficult to make friends and are unable to relate normally to other adults.

So, child abuse can be subtle. There is, of course, the more obvious kind—when a child is neglected, kicked and beaten and, worse still, sexually abused. The damage such abuse causes can last a lifetime. Now for the big question: how do we obey God’s commandment to honor parents who behave with such cruelty toward their own children?

Those who have trusted Jesus as their savior have a real Heavenly Father who desires only our good and never to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11). He is “a father to the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5). The Lord will use everything, even horrible acts, for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). When we surrender our will to Him, we will see His work in our life. Trusting God may feel disconnected or impossible for those who have never known what it is to love and trust. Someone in this position need only take one small step toward God saying, “I want to learn to love and trust you—please help me.” Jesus is “meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29), and we can confidently go to Him and pour out our problems, knowing that He will hear and answer (1 John 5:14-15). It will not be long before any child of God willing to trust Him will begin to sense the Holy Spirit at work in his heart. God will take the heart that has been turned to stone by an abusive childhood and replace it with one of flesh and feeling (Ezekiel 36:26).

The next step for someone who has been abused is to be willing to forgive. This, too, will seem to be utterly impossible, especially for those who have suffered the worst kinds of abuse. Bitterness can sink into their souls, weighing them down like iron, yet there is nothing the Holy Spirit cannot soften and cleanse. With God all things are possible (Mark 10:27). Our Lord understands our pain; He “was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power” (2 Corinthians 13:4).

There is no need to fear being honest with God. If you find it difficult to forgive the wickedness of a parent’s behavior, talk to God about it. It is true that unforgiveness is sin, but only deliberate unforgiveness, where we have set our hearts like flint and vowed that never again will we even consider forgiveness for those who have hurt us so badly. A child of God going to his Father for help with something he cannot do for himself will find not an angry, threatening God waiting to punish him, but a Father with a heart full of overwhelming love, compassion, mercy and a desire to help.

So, what does honoring an abusive parent look like in real life? Here are some practical tips: by the grace of God, be willing to forgive. A willingness to forgive honors both God and the parent. Pray for your abuser. Let go of expectations that your parent will ever be the parent you want him or her to be; replace your disappointment and sadness with acceptance of who the person is. Cultivate an attitude of compassion for the things your parent did right, and express gratitude for even slight efforts to show love. Refrain from making disparaging remarks about your parent. If it is safe to be in communication with your parent, establish wise boundaries to reduce sinful temptations for you and your parent.

One thing forgiveness and honor are not, though, is a permanent submission to parental authority. The Bible commands honor but not remaining a prisoner in a dysfunctional family. Families with a destructive cycle of sin are dangerous, and children who break free need to find safety in the family of God—which is every Christian’s true family (Matthew 10:35–38). Dysfunctional families are fraught with codependence, addiction, violence, and an absence of safe boundaries. These traits will be like a millstone around the neck, dragging the child toward the same sinful patterns. Removing oneself from an abusive situation is much like overcoming addiction; when a person desires sobriety, he cannot associate with people who abuse drugs (Proverbs 13:20).

Also, in cases in which the grandchildren are exposed to the threat of physical harm or sexual assault, it becomes the adult child’s responsibility to protect their own children. There is no guilt in keeping one’s distance from abusive parents, as long as the separation is not motivated by vengeance. You can honor your parents from afar. Sadly, some parents do not value their children enough to maintain a relationship. The void left by a broken relationship should be filled by Christ rather than pining for a parental relationship that will never be.

By focusing on your own relationship with Christ, you can experience real healing. Without salvation there is no hope for anyone, but in Christ we are new creations able to do anything He calls us to do (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is also possible that the parent will repent; thus, a relationship could be formed based on Christ’s abundant love and grace. You could be the light that leads your unsaved or wayward parent to repentance and salvation (1 Corinthians 9:19).

Just as Jesus loved us in our sinful state, we can honor an abusive parent. It means showing grace and compassion to those who don’t deserve it so that God is glorified and the obedient are blessed and rewarded (Matthew 5:44-48; 1 John 4:18-21). Remember, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

https://www.gotquestions.org/honor-abusive-parent.html

Edited January 30, 2022 by missmuffet