Honor – What It Is and What It’s Not – Part Five of Five

Ok, we have arrived at the final article in this series on honor.  This one even has its own title.

It’s Not About You!

Well, that is not entirely true.  It is about you in the sense that you have to be the one that chooses to show honor regardless of the other person’s behavior.  But it’s not about you in the sense that we are focusing on showing honor to others.  It’s all about the other person.

Remember the Golden Rule.  “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”  Matthew 7:12  Treat other people the way that you want to be treated, regardless of their actions or behavior.

Now I am not saying that you have to lie down and be a door mat for someone to walk over.  That would be stupid and ridiculous.  But we can choose to do the right thing, knowing in our hearts that we did all we can to honor the other person.

They may not agree with you.  They may not respect your decisions.  They may not even like you.  They could even be your enemy.  But through it all, you can choose to take the high road and show honor to them.  In doing so, it demonstrates a high level of maturity and character on your part.

There have been times in my life where I chose to honor people when I could have (and justifiably) lashed out at them.  I had every right to stand up and let them have it.  But instead I chose to diffuse the situation and show them honor.  By doing that, many times their behavior changed for the better.  When you choose to honor them, sometimes people will become convicted about their negative behavior and change without you having to confront it .

Once in a while the best way to show honor to someone is to do absolutely nothing.  What I mean by that is, don’t gossip about them to others.  Don’t trash them to others.  Don’t spread rumors about them or slander their character.  That only makes you look foolish.  Keep it to yourself and choose the high road.  Have you ever been around people that just complain and say negative things about other people?  Not a fun conversation is it?  Do you do that?

There are still a few people I know that no matter how much honor I show them, nothing seems to change.  But that’s ok.  It’s not about me, it’s about them.