Friday, June 22, 2012

Honour

So the subject of honour. What does it REALLY mean..? Honestly, I find the subject of honour a really hard thought to explain and communicate. However it is such a vital part of being in community, loving people and creating a environment where everyone becomes and achieves the best they ever could. But what does it look like...

Well, it can look like almost anything from opening the door for a lady, the elderly or even a friend to standing and giving a round of applause when someone does something well on a stage. The common theme is, to have a heart willing to serve and willing to become less for someone else's good and best. To open a door is to allow them in to a room or building first, going before you and letting them be seen first, or letting them in out of the rain first. To stand and applaud no matter what others are doing is to show how much you value what people have done and the time and effort they have put into something, and not being motivated by what others around you are doing or thinking about you.

Honour chooses to say, you're important and you need to know it. However it DOESN'T say you're more important, or I am worthless, that is false humility (another subject). It says you have a value to me, you have my respect, I see what you do and carry and I want to show you, however I can, how much you are worth. Also honour doesn't do it for the gratitude and appreciation of others, anyone can do a nice thing to look good, or to get people to like them and appreciate them, but how many people can do a nice thing and go unseen and let others take the lime light.

Can you work hard for someone and be happy if they are the only one who get's any recognition?

The problem we have in this society is that we all want to be seen and noticed. We get our values and our self esteem from people recognizing us and it pushes us to do something more outrageous, or, also, to follow what everyone else is doing, wear what they wear, say what they say and act how they do. When honour takes character and a person knows their own value and gets their self esteem from themselves, those super close to them (family) and God himself. When you have a person completely confident in themselves, they know that going low and serving other people is always 'the bigger thing' to do.
There is a time and place when people need to be recognised, applauded and shown some appreciation, especially those who move in honour constantly, but to thrive on it and pursue it is wrong and promotes false self esteem developed by being accepted and then promotes a perfectionism mind set which doesn't allow any one to make mistakes.

To develop this culture in your work, school, team or church is simple...Develop it in yourself! Start to be mindful of others, show honour and respect to EVERYONE, don't be selective, just let it be your character. Then teach others, slowly, why you do what you do. Honour asks to be honoured, when you honour people around you then you will find people start to honour you. This is the culture, this is where people start to walk in honour and start promoting each other to be the best them, and walk in confidence.