STUDY SCRIPTURE: 1st Peter 2 v 17: “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king” INTRODUCTION: There are certain principles given to us from the Word of God, which are determinant factors for our progress in life: these principles give us the advantage and help us win in life. It is therefore important for us to know what they are so that we can apply them to our lives and walk in the blessings that they bring. One of such principles is Giving Honour, and today, we’re examining what the Bible says on this all-important subject. We’ll be looking at the following: 1. What it means to give honour. 2. Who we are expected to honour. 3. Why we should give honour. What does it mean to give honour? The Word Honour means to show respect to or towards, to give recognition to, to esteem another, to give preference. Therefore to give honour means to show respect to or towards another, to give recognition to and esteem another; and, to give preference. Who should you honour? 1st Peter 2 v 17: Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. The above Scripture gives us God’s clear direction on who we should honour, classifying those to whom honour should be given into 4 groups namely: 1. All Men: This refers to everybody in the world. Christians and non-Christians. 2. The brotherhood: This refers to all of us in the Lord; that is, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Walking in love towards them really means that we’re honouring them. 3. God: Having reverential fear towards God is honouring Him. 4. The king: The king here refers to those who have authority over us, as authority is passed over from the highest levels to the lowest levels. Why should we give honour? Prov. 4:7-8 says “Wisdom is the principal thing … exalt her and she shall promote thee: love her and she shall bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her”. The Word of God, which is the wisdom of God, gives us instruction to live by and instructs us to give honour. So, we give honour because: - God instructs us through His Word to give honour. We honour God by doing what He has asked us to do. Not to do God’s Word is dishonouring Him, and those that dishonour God will always be at the bottom in life. - Every child of God is a man or woman of honor; God has made us kings and priests (Rev. 1 v 6), and we were made to be honoured. However, you can’t receive honour until you give it. So, God wants us to honour others because of what honour does for us; if you don’t give honour, you can’t receive a harvest of it. You can only receive what you give; the Bible is clear on this (Galatian 6:7). Not to walk in honour means to not walk in the light to which you have been called. 1 Sam 2 v 30: “Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”. From the above Scripture, we understand the importance of honouring the Lord by doing his Word. He has said those who treat the Word with lightness shall be lightly esteemed. It is obvious that many people are lightly esteemed or disregarded in life, everywhere they go, because they have no regard for the Word: they don’t honour others as the Word instructs.