Are you comfortable? Is there anything else I can get you? Oh, wait a minute...(rooting around the large basket by the couch)....here's the softest lap blanket ever. All tucked in? Good. Because I'm going to keep you here for a little while.
::smile::
Honor is a principle, woven all throughout the Scripture, Old Covenant and New. Just as sowing and reaping is a principle, just as First Fruits is a principle (the New Covenant manifestation of the Old Covenant tithe), just as generosity is a principle - honor is an unalterable, unavoidable principle that many legalists choose to overlook.
Legalists love to believe that their blessings are somehow attached to their performance. Funny thing, though...the one area they never perform well in, is this area of relationships. And relationships are what walking with God is all about.
There is a difference between law and principle. I can keep the law by obeying the speed limit. I avoid the curse that comes with breaking the law, but I don't come under any particular supernatural blessing. And I will never in my lifetime obey the speed limit in all places, at all times. I live under a curse - knowing that there is a ticket somewhere in my future, if only by accident.
Godly principles contain only blessing. The law (as contained in the commandments and ordinances) has been replaced by a Better Thing, period. No "if's, and's, or but's". Principle remains. Some attitudes (principles) will always tend towards life, whether you are a Christian or not. Generosity somehow always tends towards prosperity, for example.
Honor tends towards Great Blessing. I'm talking about the blessing of true wellness - "it will be well with thee" - Full, Multi-Dimensional, Well-Rounded Blessing - as opposed to one or two dimensional blessing, such as mere financial prosperity, without rich relationship, or rich relationships without physical health, etc.
There are three levels of honor: 1. honor towards those who we know are our superiors, 2. honor towards those we think are our equals, and 3. honor towards those we are responsible for...those below us, for lack of a better term. Some of the greatest theologians in church history have said that a man or woman is defined by the honor they give, not to superiors, not to inferiors, but you and I are defined by the honor we give to those we perceive as being equals. Even more than the honor we give, we are thoroughly known and tested by who it is we think is our equal.
Most fools will treat an obvious superior with a measure of deference. Many fools will treat a perceived inferior with pity and generosity. But all fools will eventually treat their perceived equals with patronizing airs, then with irritation, leading to indifference, and even scorn.
Jesus said that superiors, equals, and inferiors are to receive our honor. Not all equally, of course, but all are to receive their level of honor. Jesus said "And whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward." (there's the superior) "And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward." (there's your perceived equal)
"And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple" (there's your inferior), assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."
So there you have it. Jesus said this to those under the law. Before the cross, it was all about the law and the prophets. After the resurrection, God made it all about the church and the five-fold ministries who equip her. To carry this honor principle into the New Covenant, it is simple and solid reasoning to say that Jesus would convey the honor principle like this:
"Whoever receives (meaning "honors") an apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, or evangelist in the name of (out of respect towards) those ascension gifts, given by Jesus to the church, that person will by no means lose his reward. This is some big reward we are talking about.
He who receives a righteous man, in the name of that righteous man, will not lose his reward. In other words, when we give honor to someone equal in terms of responsibilities and abilities - when we recognize his talents and take note of his hard work and service, we are also rewarded.
Lastly, I cannot even offer a cup of cold water to a young one, as an act of compassion and honor, without there being a sure reward coming to me.
We do okay honoring those beneath us or dependant on us with their cup of water. We struggle with giving heartfelt honor to those we deem as our equals in intelligence or experience. We outright balk and often refuse to give honor to those God has placed over us in the faith - whether that be domestic authority, church authority, or job authority.
Without a culture of honor in our churches, however, there is no wellness. Without a culture of honor, soul-prosperity (as well as other forms of prosperity) is limited at best. We are rewarded in direct proportion to the honor we give to legitimate authority. This is a principle. There is blessing attached to honor, just as reaping is attached to sowing, and the mercy we receive is attached to the mercy we have shown.
Those women who scoff and doubt that such a principle of honor even exists, those are the very ones who tend to not manifest soul prosperity. (The men don't manifest soul prosperity either...but that is another topic for another day. Suffice it to say, they are discontented men, grasping at career props and money props and position props to keep them soul-satisfied...because they neither give honor to their wife, nor are they honored by their wife. They do not give honor to legitimate authority, and thus experience only a limited wellness.)
Return. Go back. Start all over, like an innocent child, and begin giving honor where it is due. If you will honor the people God placed in your life, and honor them in the proper way, at the proper time, with proper sincere honesty, there will be released into your spirit a steady rain of His Spirit...rising waters of mercy and grace, washing you inside and out, and leaving you feeling fresh, washing the cynicism away. You will experience the lightness and wholesomeness of an unjaded soul. You will begin to walk in multi-dimensional, powerful Blessing. It will be well with you, and you will live long and large upon the earth.
That is how powerful the Honor Principle is.
To not give honor where it is due will not bring down a curse on your life. That is old covenant thinking. I can't say this enough: you are no longer under the law!
But to withhold honor from legitimate authority, to treat authority as common, or worse, to treat anyone as beneath you, is to lose out on a deep reaching, profoundly generation-altering blessing.
I don't want to lose out on that.
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