FollowBy Jim DeAngelo
Mother’s Day is just a few days away, and Father’s Day is just around the corner. Many of us (I included) start scrambling a few days before the event to get the gift together to say, “We love you.” It is good to honor our parents, wives, husbands, and others on special days, as well as to think about how they have impacted our lives. However, what about the other days? Do we think about those individuals and do we honor them then?
What does it really mean to honor? I have found this a difficult question to answer and have given it much thought and prayer. I find that my attitude and motive are the significant attributes that define the difference between honoring and dishonoring. Do I avoid someone if I have been hurt? If I do, is it out of fear of being injured again, or am I willing to forgive and to engage them even though I may be hurt again? Do I strive to be close to those important individuals, or do I look for a reason to avoid them or not be involved?
In regard to mothers and fathers, God says in the fifth commandment (Deuteronomy 5:16; Leviticus 19:3), “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
For the important individuals in our lives, are we engaged, loving, trusting, praying, supporting, forgiving, helping, and speaking truth with loving respect? I have found this difficult when I perceive a hurt or wound, but I have been profoundly rewarded when I have engaged in love, forgiving and supporting that relationship. It isn’t easy, but it is what we have been commanded to do, and our lives definitely go better when we take this approach. Paul says in Galatians 5:22-23, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” We honor others when we forgive and demonstrate these spiritual fruits in our relationships.
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