Honor - to be deeply known, truly valued, and completely accepted for who we are. We long for honor and we will do just about anything to earn it. People have been known to do some very extreme things simply to have membership in a group or value as an individual. But most of us find ways to achieve this same goal by means of simpler things.
The Peel
As I mentioned before, Ben was a successful businessman. Even now, he continues to see himself as a success in all his endeavors. His most stressful days are when he has no direction and feels like he has no purpose. It’s not enough to enjoy what he has - a loving family, time with his son and grandsons, beautiful sunny cool weather, a pain-free body, and people to wait on him hand and foot.
However, he is incredibly happy when he has a project. He envisions how his project will help other people and he dives into it with his whole heart and soul. A project can be anything that he is capable of doing and that serves a purpose in his own eyes. His current project is to recreate his own electronic large print copy of the book of John in the Bible and make a list of all the words that Jesus spoke. It pushes the limits of his brain and he wants to give a copy of it to all his friends so they can read it, too. It’s really sweet. He is producing something that tells others what is important to him, he is creating a perceived value, and he will reaffirm his friendships by giving them a copy.
But this project will soon come to an end. People will graciously accept his gift and pat him on the back as an affirmation of their friendship. His acquired sense of honor will soon deplete and need to be replaced with another project.
The Fruit
Per usual, I feel like Ben’s life is a microcosm of my own life and perhaps that of others as well. How many of my life’s endeavors have boiled down to a desire to be known, valued, and accepted? What would I have done differently if I had known that I was already the recipient of unconditional honor?
Even as I write this blog, I have to consider my motives. Perhaps I started it as a path to honor and perhaps I still fall into that line of thought at times. However, blogging has helped me to taste the fruit beneath the peel throughout my journey with Ben. The longer we journey together, the more I realize that any honor I earn is temporary and will need to be earned over and over again.
This inspires me to turn instead to the honor that is given to me freely as a child of God. He knows every part of me and calls me his beloved no matter my performance. Now I do things out of love and gratitude for the one who gives me his name, instead of doing it to earn a name for myself.
***
Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them?
You made them a little less than the heavenly beings.
You crowned mankind with honor and majesty.
Psalm 8:4-5 New English Translation (NET Bible)
O Lord, you examine me and know me.
You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;
you are aware of everything I do.
Psalm 139:1-3 (NET Bible)
But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.
Galatians 4:4-7 (NET Bible)
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