Whatever is ... (3)

“Two boys were walking along a road through a field, when they came upon an old coat and a badly worn pair of shoes. Off in the distance a farmer was working his field. The younger boy thought it would be fun to hide the coat and shoes, and then wait in the bushes to see the farmer's expression upon finding his things missing. The older boy thought about that, but then told his friend that the farmer must be awfully poor to have clothing so worn. Instead he suggested that he would put a silver dollar in a shoe, then they could hide and watch the expression on the farmer's face,. Silver dollars were worth a lot to a boy in those days, but the boys agreed that this was a good idea so they each did it. By and by the farmer came out of the field and put his foot in one shoe. He pulled his foot back out, reached into the shoe, and withdrew the coin with considerable surprise., The farmer looked around and couldn't see anyone, so proceeded to put on the shoe again, and then to try the other one. Finding the second silver dollar, the farmer knelt on the ground and prayed aloud to the Lord, rejoicing because he would now be able to help his wife, who was sick, and his children, who had no bread.

That lesson was worth far more to the boys than $2.00.” (borrowed from http://user.xmission.com/~wake/honor.html)

Whatever is honorable.

Do you see honor in the story? Do you get a lump in your throat when you read stories about people doing the right thing, the honorable thing?

What if you inspired reverence and admiration? The aged should be respected and admired. It is better to be younger and still command respect and admiration because of personal dignity and the sharing of dignity.

Spend some time considering:

• What happens when we are consistently treating others with dignity and honor?
• What results from refusing association with unsavory individuals and questionable activities?
• How will we be treated if we promote reputable places instead of unwholesome bars, above-board business practices instead of questionable accounting, fair play as opposed to cheating, clean talk as a replacement for obscene language and dirty jokes, and preferring kindness over meanness?
• Do you see Jesus paying taxes?
• Why did Jesus honor the centurion?
• Why did parents want their children near Jesus?
• What happens to us when we think about honorable events? If we keep thinking about honor, will we do what is honorable?
• Do we revere dignified individuals? How about those who dignify others?
• Who do you admire, and why? Is it because of acts of kindness or generosity? Or because of their character?

Look long and hard for people to do honorable things. You will find them. Then study what they did to

receive your honor.

Did Jesus do the honorable things as a child? Was his life honorable? Was his death honorable in spite of a dying with thieves?

Study honor. You will become what you study.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Paul is training us. Let's study honor and truth.