Honor doesn’t always come WHEN you want it to. And the most honorable people don’t care if it comes. They are simply confident it will when it’s time. And they’ll freely render it to others regardless.

That’s what real honor does. It’s not to be coveted or hoarded, only shared.

Honor doesn’t always come HOW you want it to either. It doesn’t always appear in the form or fashion you might hope for.

Its arrival is often cloaked in mystery. It’s better that way.

For some, donning a uniform is great honor in and of itself. Having it later hung in the rafters is surpassing honor. For others, a uniform simply represents a job, maybe even demotion or captivity. Pain and sacrifice accompany either way.

According to the Bible and this particular text, here’s what living for honor should look like:

• Representing something way bigger than yourself
• Speaking on behalf of the many, perhaps even a movement or a nation
• Dying to self so that others might live -- selfless sacrifice is honor
• Living for the One who died for you, come what may … even counting yourself worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of that Name.

Reflect: How’s your honor-living and honor-giving going? Are you confidently deferring honor to others and committed to rejecting self-promotion? Does the phrase “for the sake of the Name” move and motivate you deeply?

A prayer to consider: LORD, may the honor of Your Name be most accented in me. Thank You for loving me and giving me every eternal reason to love You back. You are worthy. Amen.