Where Did all the Honor Go?

“Why is there no honor around here????!!!” Before we go pointing out how poorly ‘other’ people are behaving right now, we need to stop and have a look a little deeper: You build around you the culture that is in you. If you don’t like the environment around you first look at what is going on inside you – your beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.

Feedback?

So, what is the feedback of your environment telling you about you?

I believe Heaven on earth is entirely possible. It is not some arbitrary and surreal emotion but a tangible experience of the peace and power of God among us in all we do. If we want to experience Heaven on earth we need to begin by building a culture in our lives, that Heaven would want to inhabit. So what is the culture – the lived out, non negotiable, core values of Heaven? One of those is honor.

What is honor?

Honor is the behavior of valuing people according to how God sees them. Our tendency is to treat or value people according to their history, their mistakes, their limitations and lacks. Honor is unconditional. It is a belief and behavior expressed regardless of how people behave towards you.

I give honor because of who I am, not because of what you do or don’t do.

Honor gives value rather than taking away value. It is the attitude and action of celebrating self, celebrating others and celebrating differences.

Honor that produces a world-class symphony

A culture of honor in action is like a world-class symphony: A unison of many different instruments expressing their unique sound, at the right volume and time to contribute to one song that moves an audience to emotional delight.

A culture of honor is what  happened with the disciples in the early church – one accord in one place. It translates to an almost musical expression meaning to rush along in unison. It is not about making all individuals the same but about each individual contributing his or her own unique talents and abilities in collaboration with others to create a single masterpiece.

Lived-out set of core values

Culture is a lived-out set of core values. You can rapidly discover the culture of an environment by observing:

1. What happens when there is disagreement? And…
2. How the ‘least’ important person is treated: The part-time janitor? The child of the receptionist? The mentally disabled customer? The poorest performer?

When a culture of honor is established you get to experience the best of people without fear or control. There is no glass ceiling… for anyone. There is open communication and feedback and people are encouraged to develop into the best version of themselves; not a lesser version of the most important person in the organization. In a culture of honor, people experience an environment full of celebration, creativity, risk and value.

So, rather than saying “Why is there no honor around here?!” let’s start being people of honor.

What about you?

1. Who can you give honor to today?
2. Who can you value, esteem, celebrate?
3. What are some of the ways that you could contribute honor to your environment?
   • In what you say?
   • In what you do?
   • In HOW you do what you do?

For a whole lot more on this topic, check out the library of video, audio, notes and resources on Heaveninbusiness.com