Honor and Value

I recently heard the words honor and value

I realized I wasn’t sure I fully understood them.

Then came another word.

Respect.

And suddenly I found myself asking questions.

What is value?

What is honor?

What is respect?

How do they work together?

And more importantly, do I actually live them?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized we often confuse honor and respect.

Many people believe respect is earned.

And in many ways, it is.

Respect is often built through character, integrity, wisdom, maturity, and trustworthiness.

Respect can grow.

Respect can diminish.

Respect can be lost.

But value is different.

Value is not earned.

Value is given.

A newborn has value before accomplishing anything.

An elderly person has value even when they can no longer contribute.

A mature believer has value.

An immature believer has value.

The person I admire has value.

The person I struggle with has value.

Why?

Because value originates with God.

God created them.

Christ died for them.

God desires them.

Their value does not come from me.

Their value comes from Him.

Honor is my response to that value.

Respect may be earned.

Value is given.

And honor is what I do with that truth.

That sounds simple until people enter the picture.

People who disappoint us.

People who frustrate us.

People who offend us.

People who see the world differently than we do.

People whose choices we question.

People who have wounded us.

People we quietly dismiss.

The temptation is not simply to disagree with people.

The temptation is to reduce them.

To reduce a person to a moment.

A mistake.

A failure.

A weakness.

A wound.

An opinion.

A season.

A label.

We all do it.

Not because we are cruel.

Because it is easier.

Labels require less from us than understanding.

Judgment requires less from us than compassion.

Assumptions require less from us than perspective.

But a Kingdom perspective asks a different question.

Not:

What have they done?

Not:

What do I think about them?

Not even:

Do they deserve honor?

Instead it asks:

Has God removed their value?

The answer is no.

God does not ignore flaws.

But He does not allow flaws to become the whole story.

And neither should we.

A Kingdom perspective sees people the way God sees them.

It sees value where others see only faults.

It sees people, not labels.

Worth, not just behavior.

Image-bearers, not categories.

A Kingdom perspective sees value.

Value produces honor.

Respect is earned.

Value is given by God.

And if God has not removed their value…

Then why did I?

That question steps on my toes.

Not because it exposes someone else.

Because it exposes me.

It forces me to ask whether my perspective agrees with God’s.

Not just about difficult people.

About everyone.

Including myself.