This weekend, my sisters, my mom and I went on a girls weekend in the metroplex. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to have a weekend with just females...especially females I really love. I left my boys (my husband and doggy) at home to have a man's weekend. They rented movies, laid in bed, and did whatever boys do when they are left to themselves...? I also kind of left a few chores at the house that I hoped would be finished when I got home but I didn't really say anything about it on my way out. Needless to say, when I got home the house was in...an undesirable state. To their credit, I got home earlier than expected and they didn't get the last minute time they were counting on to clean up. I walked in the door, and saw all the little messes left behind (laundry, dishes, dirty floor, etc) and was just SO not happy. I started doing that mad cleaning thing where you're just tearing through the house putting things away, throwing dirty clothes in the basket, slamming dishes around...you know the kind. As I'm folding laundry and mumbling obscenities about never-ending housework I realized this wasn't how I wanted to greet my husband after a weekend away. I asked God to lift off the frustration and to fill me with love and gratitude instead. I then began to see the situation in a new light. I became grateful that I had a nice place to come home to. I was anxious to see my husband when he came home from church. I started to feel happy about a messy house because I know a clean house would mean an empty house. When my husband walked through the door, I was able to greet him with love, excitement, and adoration instead of anger and disappointment. I feel like this is an illustration of honor. Through God and love, my husband was elevated to a position of respect, honor, love, and acceptance. I didn't have to fake happiness or cheerfulness out of duty when he came home - it came naturally from a place within the God created.
If you remember, last week I wrote about the tribes of the Reubenites, Gad, and Manasseh (HERE) from Joshua 22. They were the fighting tribes of Israel that were held in a place of honor and respect. These tribes preferred to stay in the land right outside the Promised Land. They felt at home there and didn't want to leave it once the Promised Land had been seized. Even though it was home to them, they felt separated from everyone else so they built an altar to God to show who they worship to future generations. They also wanted to create a long lasting connection to the other tribes by their proclamation of faith to God. The people from the Promised Land saw God's heart through these tribes and felt honored by their proclamation as brothers in Christ. Through honor, the tribes created unity and avoided war.
Part of living in a fallen world is that we have conflict. We have good worldly counsel to avoid these conflicts but it's still lacking. The missing piece is HONOR. When honor is infused into conflict, it brings healing which addresses underlying issues. This is the only way both parties can walk away feeling whole and victorious. Our diversity as Christians is part of unity because each of us is part of the body of Christ; consequently, diversity creates conflict which can be dealt with by honoring one another. {Read about using your differences to maximize performance here.}
We've found that you can't muster up honor from your own willpower...false honor crumbles and shame is left behind. True honor is powered by God through his greatness. We can get empowered through him and honor will flow out in the form of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (<<<---FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT!!!). Watch our video on honor in marriage {HERE}!
If you remember, last week I wrote about the tribes of the Reubenites, Gad, and Manasseh (HERE) from Joshua 22. They were the fighting tribes of Israel that were held in a place of honor and respect. These tribes preferred to stay in the land right outside the Promised Land. They felt at home there and didn't want to leave it once the Promised Land had been seized. Even though it was home to them, they felt separated from everyone else so they built an altar to God to show who they worship to future generations. They also wanted to create a long lasting connection to the other tribes by their proclamation of faith to God. The people from the Promised Land saw God's heart through these tribes and felt honored by their proclamation as brothers in Christ. Through honor, the tribes created unity and avoided war.
Part of living in a fallen world is that we have conflict. We have good worldly counsel to avoid these conflicts but it's still lacking. The missing piece is HONOR. When honor is infused into conflict, it brings healing which addresses underlying issues. This is the only way both parties can walk away feeling whole and victorious. Our diversity as Christians is part of unity because each of us is part of the body of Christ; consequently, diversity creates conflict which can be dealt with by honoring one another. {Read about using your differences to maximize performance here.}
We've found that you can't muster up honor from your own willpower...false honor crumbles and shame is left behind. True honor is powered by God through his greatness. We can get empowered through him and honor will flow out in the form of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (<<<---FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT!!!). Watch our video on honor in marriage {HERE}!
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