Defending Honor

 Honor God

The first and most important responsibility of human beings is to glorify God. We are His greatest work and thus have the potential to give Him the greatest glory. While all of creation gives glory to the creator, humans are the only part of God’s creation that has a choice of whether or not to glorify Him. By surrendering our lives to God, we are laying down our free wills at His feet as if to say, “Thanks but no thanks.” We were created in the image of God. When we give back our free will to Him, we are choosing to stay in His image. That is to say, we are choosing to live a life that glorifies God and not ourselves.

The Fight Instinct

We learn in psychology that humans have the same “fight or flight” instinct as animals. In other words, when we are faced with a threat, we will react by either standing our ground or running away. Where humans differ is in that we also have threats on a social dimension. Feeling like our honor is attacked will usually cause us to fight. The problem with fighting to defend your honor is that it is always a losing battle. Think of it as a snare where the more you struggle the tighter the trap becomes. Or like quicksand where the more you try to escape the quicker you sink. 

Defending your Honor

The only way to truly defend your honor is by living an honorable life. Just look back to nearly every political campaign. It’s impossible to sling mud without getting some on yourself. If you truly want to protect your reputation, let your feet do the talking. Be known for what you do, not what you say you do. When you engage in disputes, you are giving life to the fight. You can also think of the attack as a fire. A fire needs heat, fuel, and oxygen to exist. Every time you speak about the attack, you are blowing oxygen on it. Every time you try to discredit the source of the attack, you are throwing sticks on the fire. Don’t feed the fire! Don’t confuse honor with pride. Oftentimes people will get their pride hurt and then feel like they must defend their honor. Honor doesn’t need to be defended, it just needs to exist. Do honorable things and your honor will speak for itself.

Vengeance is God’s     

“It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”  Hebrews 10:30 NLT

If people are mistreating you, It’s best to let God handle it. He can do a much better job than you and you don’t have to get dirty by engaging in a mud fight. Jesus was the most innocent person to ever be falsely accused. While on trial, he made no attempt to defend himself. He was so silent that Pilot asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” Mark 15:4 NLT If Jesus kept silent when His honor was being attacked, don’t you think we should keep silent when ours is attacked?

  Conclusion

When we focus on living a life that glorifies Him, we won’t be so easily offended when our own honor is attacked. “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on the cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11

Written by - Mike Verdin