Honor everyone

I came across this verse today: II Peter 2:17 Honor everyone…

Peter does not qualify his statement. He does not tell us that there are some people we should honor or some we should not honor. He just tells Christians to honor everyone.

I studied that word honor. It means ‘to revere, adore, esteem highly, respect, hold in the highest regard, treat as valuable.’ Jesus speaks of honor as something that involves more than our words. Honor involves our heart attitudes (Matthew 15:8). Jesus is trying to make the point that we can honor with our lips, but our hearts be in the wrong place. He goes on to call that kind of honor vanity (verse 9). Our words are worthless if we do not honor with our attitude.

So, I began to think about whether I really honor all people. It’s easy for me to speak kind words to others, mostly because I want them to think well of me. Often, I speak kind words to hide an unkind heart attitude.

If I’m honest with myself, I’m quite sure that I don’t always think of everyone as valuable. I don’t see everyone as a person. I often see people and judge their value (or respectability) based on their income level, their clothes, their ethnicity, their religion, their hygiene, their education level, their age, etc. Yet, Peter implies that everyone is valuable, respectable, and important. Period.

Jesus modeled honor perfectly. He saw everyone as a person, and valuable as such. He always honored people in his attitudes, his words, and his actions, even if it meant ‘tough love.’ He honored us by dying for us, for our sins.

I want to learn to walk through my neighborhood and honor everyone without discrimination. I want to learn to serve others because I truly honor them in my heart. People seeing Jesus depends on it.