Word of the Week: Honor

Can you remember a time someone said something really kind about you? That’s one of the most common ways we show honor: with our words. On Sunday, Steve Hohenberger preached on how God shows honor to his people in 1 Peter 2:4-10. It’s not an honor we deserve by our own merits, but honor that’s given to us in the grace of Christ.

Peter draws our attention to this honor by highlighting some of the most wonderful things that God has said about his people. In verses 9 and 10, he says:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Words can cut like knives. The thoughtless or malicious words of a parent can leave scars for decades. Off-hand comments fueled by jealousy and spite can cut through all our defenses. Words can hurt us, but they can also heal us. Proverbs 16:24 compares kind words to honey, bringing sweetness and health. I’m hard pressed to think of kinder words than what Peter records in these verses. He takes common titles for God’s people in the Old Testament and he carries them forward to the church. You, Christian, are the object of God’s affection. Robed in the righteousness of Christ, you are his priest. You didn’t belong, but now you belong to his family.

You’ll hear a lot of words this week – and some of them will be rough. Don’t let those words drown out these words of honor. Don’t let the words of men drown out the words of God.