“You husbands, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, bestowing honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers are not hindered” (I Peter 3:7).

Honor (Def): (Gr.): Time (tee-may) from Tino: To bestow value, esteem of the highest degree, or dignity

As the Apostle Peter sets forth in his Epistle there is a great benefit in holding others in the highest esteem, it keeps our path clear when we approach the Throne of Grace, when we come before the Father with clean hands and pure hearts, with a clear conscience and nothing accusing us and hindering us in our prayers.

Bestowing honor is a glorious way to live in the community of saints, as the Apostle gave us in his exhortation to give “honor to whom honor” is due (cf. Romans 13:7).

Honor is a virtue of great value and there is a reward for those, as the Apostle wrote: “who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life” (Romans 2:7). God, the Father, bestows the honor of Eternal Life to all who come to Him through the Son.

Honor is a virtue highly esteemed by the Father who gave us the Fifth Commandment to: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives to you” (Exodus 20:12).

Honor (Def): (Heb): Kabad: Weighty, heavy,

Honor All: Peter also wrote in his Epistle as to honor, saying: “Honor all men. Love the Brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King” (I Peter 2:17). The virtue of honor has been greatly disparaged in our time. We speak rudely, disrespectfully, disparagingly to our brothers and sisters, to our co-workers, in the public square, in the media and in our homes. We have lost something of great value, this loss of bestowing honor to all.

It is also of the Lord to bestow honor as He says through the Psalmist:

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My Name. He shall call upon Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation” (Psalm 91:14-16).

There is also a dignity that is deserving to the elderly. The Levitical Law commanded: “You shall rise up before the aged, and honor the face of the old man, and give holy reverence to thy God. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:32).

Oh, what beauty the Lord has set before us. Bestowing honor is a beautiful thing. It is a great blessing. It is a thing of splendor and is glorious. Let us ponder and meditate upon these things. Let us live a life of bestowing honor. That is a precious thing, indeed.

The wisdom of Solomon speaks to this thought:

“Bestow Honor to the Lord with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9). “Exalt Wisdom and She shall promote you; She shall bring you to honor when you shall embrace Her” (Proverbs 4:8).

Whether to the lowly or the lofty; whether to paupers or to kings; whether to men or to God; whether to wives or to sisters; whether to husbands or to brothers; whether to friends or to the stranger; let us learn of the Lord to honor our neighbor, the widow and the orphan; indeed, let us learn to give, to bestow honor to all.

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