"The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'"
—Genesis 2:18

Discovering the incredible worth of a woman begins by understanding that genuine love is a gift we give. It isn't purchased by actions nor contingent upon our emotions. It may carry strong emotional feelings, but isn't supported by them. Rather, to love is a decision we make daily toward someone who is special and valuable to us. As with genuine love, honor is a gift we give to someone. To honor involves making the decision to highly value someone even before we put love into action. In many cases, love often begins to flow once we have made the decision to honor that person.

How do we make love a decision? This question was answered many years ago when Jesus spoke to a young lawyer, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-40). This verse illustrates three of the highest and most revered aspects of love: Loving God, loving others, and finding value in ourselves.

This verse is also the essence of HONOR. We define honor as "A decision we choose to express by placing high value, worth, and importance on another person, viewing that person as a priceless gift, and respectfully granting him or her a place in our lives."

To further clarify honor before we apply it, let's look at what it is not. DISHONOR is "something or someone who has little worth, weight, or value." When we dishonor people, we consciously or unknowingly treat them with little weight or value. Anger, sarcasm, unjust criticism, unhealthy comparisons, favoritism, inconsistency, jealousy, selfishness, envy, racism and a host of other ills are "justified" as legal weapons to use against people we consider of little value. The lower the value we attach to people, the easier we can "justify" dishonoring them with our words or treating them with disrespect.

Recommended Resources:

Buy Keys To loving Relationships 1-18

Buy Love Is a Decision

© Copyright 2005 Smalley Relationship Center

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