What We Can Do to Honor the Lord

We know we are to honor the Lord, but what does that look like? What can we do to honor Him?

Join us as we explore what honor is and how we can honor the Lord every day!

What Does It Mean to Honor the Lord?

As Believers we know that we are to honor the Lord, and yet… it is not always an easily understood concept. Is it the same as honoring our parents? Or honoring someone who is a position of authority—like a policeman, president, etc.? 

Respect, regard, esteem, admiration, devotion, and reverence are words often connected with honoring a person. Alternatively, words connected to a person’s honor—someone considered honorable—are integrity, decency, righteousness, uprightness, character, principle, and the like. Yet, can either of these be used as-is to serve as our understanding of what it means to honor God? Or are they only the base-work for it, that then needs to be built upon with the Word of God and putting His Word into action?

Seven Scriptures About God and Honor

• “After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!’”—Revelation 19:1
• “…O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty,”—Psalm 104:1
• “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.”—Proverbs 3:9-10
• “Therefore the Lord said: ‘Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.’”—Isaiah 29:13-14
• “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”—Isaiah 58:13-14
• “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, “In what way have we despised Your name?” You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, “In what way have we defiled You?” By saying, “The table of the Lord is contemptible.” And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?’ Says the Lord of hosts.”—Malachi 1:6-8
• “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”—Revelation 4:11

In these Scriptures we are given a variety of examples of Godly honor. Of how honor belongs to the Lord—both His receiving and providing it—and how God is said to be clothed in honor, because honor is such a deep part of His nature. 

As a father on Earth is so often honored, or those who provide employment or who lead, our Lord deserves honor. 

Not only through our lips does our loving Father deserve all of the honor we can bestow… but through our hearts, our actions, and our character.

How We Can Honor the Lord

In many cultures around the world, forms of honor have been and continue to remain important. On occasion this honor has been skewed, with it being barely recognizable compared to God’s righteous honor, while other times this honor has merely been misplaced… with it being fixed firmly on a select few people rather than those God desires us to honor.

God would have us honor our parents on earth. To honor elders. To honor His children. And to honor Him… for that honor leads us to righteousness, genuine holiness, and even prepares us for eternity, Heaven, and the New Jerusalem time period.

But how can we honor the Lord? How can flesh and blood people honor the God Who created them?

Honoring the Lord can be as simple as:

• Spending quality time with the Lord
• Praising and worshipping the Lord
• Working with the Lord
• Listening to the Lord
• Giving a portion of all the Lord provides us 
• Having fun with the Lord
• Reading God’s Word
• Partaking of Communion
• Allowing Him to be in control
• Thanking God for His goodness, gifts, and more
• Doing our best

Though there are many other ways we can honor the Lord, these remind us that honoring Him does not always consist of grandiose actions. Often it is as simple as making God a priority. Honoring the Lord by choosing to seek His Kingdom above the kingdoms of this world or our own. 

“…seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

—Matthew 6:33

“You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.”

—Deuteronomy 10:20-21

God has blessed all of us. Every good thing that we have—life included—is from Him. And God is honored when we are willing to give a little of what He has given. When we spend time with Him. When He is a priority to us. 

This is because God loves us… and like a good father, a good husband, God desires to not only provide for us, but to talk to us, to engage and interact with us. And for our God who has done so much for us, our making Him a priority is really a small thanks, a small return… yet, because God loves us, to Him it is far from small. Our love is what He desires.

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?”

—Deuteronomy 10:12-13