Honor God

             you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (I Corinthians 6:20)

Honor (Biblical definition) Showing esteem for one deserving of respect, attention, or obedience.

Let’s skip the “God” part for just a moment. Do you honor yourself with your body? Do you treat it with respect and attention, or do you stagger drunkenly among ignoring it, caving to its every whim, and making the Nazis seem lax in their discipline? I am one of the “drunks.” No one would look at me and recognize that I do a good job of respecting myself. And, I suffer as a result because I’m not able to do things I want to do.

Now, let’s bring God back into it. Some might begin by saying that honoring God with our bodies means not sinning, and they’d start their list of sins with extramarital sex, revealing clothing, and the use of drugs (including alcohol.) Eventually, they’d probably get to gluttony and maybe to high stress, abuse, and lack of sleep.  Ultimate, honoring God involves not making anything else more important than God. It doesn’t include making nothing else important, just not more important than God.

Part of the problem is that respecting ourselves and respecting God isn’t easy. They involve making choices we aren’t used to making. They involve denying ourselves, which often feels as if we aren’t respecting or honoring ourselves. After all, when we honor someone, don’t we usually give them what they want or what we value? They may involve learning to do new things. It can be overwhelming, so I return to an old guideline – do what’s obvious. Do what is in front of you. Help the person you trip over as you cross the room. If it’s a problem now, deal with it now. If it’s not, let it go.