Simple Honor
How intentional are you about honoring others?
Verse of the Day
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Today’s Devotional
Today is Mother’s Day, a day when we celebrate and honor the women who brought us life. Now…I am not a big fan of what I call “Hallmark holidays”, but the idea of honoring our parents is found in the Ten Commandments. So it is probably something we should do.
How do we honor our mothers? It’s not about cards and gifts. There is no mention of such things in Scripture. Ephesians 6:2 reminds us that this is the first command with a promise attached to it. In Romans 12:10, the New Living translation tells us we are to delight in honoring one another, and another translation says “giving preference to one another”. I believe the most powerful ways we can honor our mothers include speaking well of them (to them and to others), expressing genuine gratitude for everything they have done and continue to do for us, and praying for them. We don’t have to agree with our parents (or anyone else) to honor them. When in doubt about what honoring a person looks like, we ask the Holy Spirit for guidance.
If your mother is no longer on this earth, you can still honor her by expressing your gratitude to God. You can encourage other women who are mothers. You can pray for the women you know who are mothers. Honor does not always need to be shown TO the person we are honoring. Sometimes we do certain things BECAUSE we are honoring someone in our hearts and with our motives.
Now…let’s recap what we have studied this week about the discipline of simplicity. Take the time to answer some (or all) of the questions.
- If simplicity is an outward expression of the inner disciplines, how are your inner disciplines going? Are you as steadfast with meditation, prayer, fasting, and study as you are, say, to making sure you have coffee each morning?
- Simplicity is an outward display of an inner childlike faith which causes us to grasp nothing of this world tightly. How is your childlike faith? How loose is your grasp on the things of this world?
- True simplicity is based on absolute trust in God for everything that we need. The problem comes when we decide that our wants and desires qualify as needs. How is your trust? Are you good at differentiating a want from a need?
- Simplicity is an overall attitude of contentment and gratitude manifested in a visible way of living that includes not trying to do too much or have too much. How is your practice of gratitude going? How content are you?
- “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33) Have you taken the time to ask God and yourself what seeking God’s Kingdom first really looks like?
- Freedom from anxiety is characterized by three inner attitudes. If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is to be cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety. This is the inward reality of simplicity. How’s your anxiety level? How can you foster these three attitudes about the people and things you have in your life?
- “It is time to awaken to the fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick.” Have you taken the time to confront the parts of you that are trying to fit in with a sick world?
- In Deuteronomy 8, God warns us repeatedly to be careful to obey Him, and not to give ourselves credit for what we have. What does being careful look like for you? How do you need to be obedient?
- Simplicity rejoices in the gracious provision from the hand of God. When was the last time you rejoiced over the blessings of your life?
May your day be blessed with an awareness of the gracious provision from the hand of God. In our awareness and our gratitude, we will slowly learn to live a life of authentic simplicity.