Practicing Honor, Day by Day 6

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live..." Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Hebrews 3:13

“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Ephesians 6:2-3 (NIV)

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)

”Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

”My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.  But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.  Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?  Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” James 3:1-12 (NKJV)

Today look up Bible verses about honor, encouragement and speaking life to others.

I have listed some of my favorites, but I encourage you to do a search and find one that speaks to you/your family. Choose one to memorize.

Heavenly Father, Your word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Today, we choose to study Your word for deeper understanding of honor. Reveal to us which verse You would have us to memorize. In times of struggle, we trust You to bring Your word to our remembrance. Your word we will hide in our hearts, that we might not sin against You.

Practicing Honor, Day by Day 5

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

Today choose to honor someone who has hurt you. This challenge may be more difficult, but you can do it.

Choose to forgive the offense that was set against you and then ask God to show you something in that person that is worthy of honor. Make an effort to speak a word of affirmation over him/her, send a text or email of encouragement or put a card in the mail. No one is perfect, we all make mistakes.

We have been forgiven much, so we must forgive!

Heavenly Father, thank You for forgiving me. I will never be able to repay You for the love You pour out on me. I know it honors You when I forgive others. Today I choose to forgive _________________ for _________________________. I also choose to see the good in _______________ and ask You to give me courage to speak encouragement over ______________________. I do this with no expectation of his/her response. I do this because it honors You.

Practicing Honor, Day by Day 4

“…Love is kind.” I Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)

Today find a way to honor a “landscape” person in your life. Consider the people that are part of the backdrop of your life. You see their faces, you may know their name, but you do not know much about them. Some “landscape” people may be your mail carrier, your child’s school bus driver or teacher, your cashier at Walmart or the grocery store, the customer standing in line behind you, a neighbor who walks their dog on your street, or a delivery person.

You may be the only person they come into contact with today who will offer them a smile, a kind word or even a random act of kindness. Let someone go in front of you at the checkout line. Leave a candy bar in your mailbox for your carrier. Take a casserole to a neighbor. Pay for a stranger's coffee or lunch.

Find a way to bless someone today!

Heavenly Father, I know that You choose to place people in my life each day. You are a God who is “on purpose,” intentional in all that you do. You are also a God who is on time and You know who needs to experience Your love today. Lead me, I am Your willing servant. Where You lead me, I will follow.

Practicing Honor, Day by Day 3

“Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” Romans 13:7 (NKJV)

Today consider honoring your pastor, mentor or another person who speaks life and encouragement into your spirit.

Pastors, worship leaders, Sunday school teachers, children’s ministers, mentors, and many others pour out their lives to bless others. Most are underpaid or not paid at all. They love God and they love people, so they minister out of that passion.

A kind word, a thoughtful gift or a handwritten note would go a long way in affirming the calling and impact someone has in your life.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the people who have poured into my life. I would not be the person I am today without those who have taken time to be Your heart, Your hands, Your feet to me. I choose to honor them and ask You to give me the words that will bless them. Reveal to me Your heart for them, lead me to a scripture that will bless them and let my words be received deep in within their spirits.

Practicing Honor, Day by Day 2

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Today would be a great day to begin a discussion with your family and cast a vision for your own honor project.

Take a dictionary and look up the word “honor.” Define it and make sure that everyone knows what honor is.

Begin an honor journal and brainstorm the ways your family wants to show honor.

Do you want to begin an honor blog?

Would you rather use a pen and paper to keep an honor journal?

Will you sit down once a week to write, read or discuss what you wrote or read?

Cast a vision!

Heavenly Father, give us a vision today. Show us what Your word says about honor. The world around us is drowning in dishonor and disrespect. You have called us to be salt and light and to look different from the world. Let this change begin with me. Let it begin in my heart, in my home, in my church, in my community, in my world!

Practicing Honor, Day by Day 1

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

I am a firm believer that our true character is who we are at home, so let’s begin there. Today, find ways to show your gratitude for those closest to you. Have a conversation at the breakfast table, or at dinner. “Our words have power to build up and to tear down. My desire is to see us encourage one another. I’ll go first and I hope you’ll join me. _______, I see strength in you when you _______________.” Or, “_________, you display good character when you _____________.” Or, “____________, I appreciate when you _________.”

Use this list to help you!

POSITIVE CHARACTER TRAITS

accountable, accepting, adaptable, adventurous, affable, affectionate, agreeable, alert, ambitious, amiable, amicable, amusing, appropriate, articulate, aspiring, assertive, astute, attentive, authentic, aware, brave, bright, broad-minded, calm, candid, capable, careful, certain, charming, charismatic, cheerful, Christ-like, clear, collaborative, committed, communicative, compassionate, conscientious, considerate, connected, conscience, considerate, consistent, contributes, cooperative, convivial, courageous, courteous, creative, curious, decisive, dedicated, determined, devoted, diligent, diplomatic, direct, disciplined, discreet, dynamic, easygoing, effective, efficient, empathetic, emotional, empowering, encouraging, energetic, enthusiastic, ethical, excitable, expressive, extroverted, exuberant, facilitates, fair, fair-minded, faithful, fearless, flexible, focused, forceful, forgiving, frank, free, friendly, funny, generous, gentle, godly, good, grateful, gregarious, happy, hard-working, helpful, hilarious, holy, honest, honorable, humble, humorous, imaginative, immaculate, impartial, independent, innovative, inquiring, inquisitive, integrates, integrity, intellectual, intentional, intelligent, interested, intimate, intuitive, inventive, just, jovial, jolly, joyful, kind, knowledgeable, leading, listener, lively, logical, lovely, loving, loyal, manages time well, mature, modest, neat, networks, nice, nurturer, open-minded, optimistic, organized, passionate, patient, peaceful, peppy, persistent, pioneering, philosophical, placid, planner, poised, polite, powerful, playful, practical, presents self well, pro-active, problem solver, productive, punctual, quick-witted, quiet, rational, realistic, reliable, reserved, resourceful, respectful, responsible, self-confident, self-controlled, self-disciplined, sense of humor, selfless, sensible, sensitive, serious, servant, sincere, skillful, sociable, spiritual, spontaneous, stable, straightforward, strong, successful, supportive, sympathetic, tactful, tenacious, thoughtful, tidy, tough, trusting, trustworthy, truthful, unassuming, understanding, unpretentious, unselfish, versatile, vibrant, warm, warmhearted, willing, wise, witty, youthful, zealous

The goal is to focus on WHO THEY ARE, rather than WHAT THEY DO. Instead of saying, “Son, you are a good athlete,” I can say, “Son, you display perseverance and tenacity when you are on the ball court. I appreciate your hard work as you move toward your goal of being a starter on the team.” Being a good athlete may or may not be in my child’s control. Working hard and reaching a desired goal is something he has worked hard for and that should be acknowledged.

There are many ways to bless our family members, today let’s use words of praise to build them up.

Heavenly Father, I ask You to open my eyes to see the good in others. It is so easy to see their flaws, but I know You want to reveal character that is true, noble, right, pure and lovely. As I speak words of affirmation over my spouse, my children and others, I believe You will use those words to heal them.

Practicing Honor—The Challenge

"Therefore comfort each other and edify one another..." I Thessalonians 5:11 (NKJV)

"…but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today..." Hebrews 3:13 (NKJV)

Who's with me?

Are you ready to give "The Honor Project" a try?

Whether you choose to create a blog, write letters to those you love, speak words of affirmation or perform random acts of kindness, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Use the comments area to share ideas and let us know how "The Honor Project" impacts you and your family!

Heavenly Father, I know I need to grow in the area of honor. I have so much to learn about honoring you, my family and the world around me. I ask You to grant me courage to take a step in the right direction, I know it will be pleasing to You.

Praiseworthy Character Traits

PRAISEWORTHY CHARACTER TRAITS (Please feel free to add others in the comments below! This list is not exhaustive, I am sure there are plenty that I missed!)

accountable, accepting, adaptable, adventurous, affable, affectionate, agreeable, alert, ambitious, amiable, amicable, amusing, appropriate, articulate, aspiring, assertive, astute, attentive, authentic, aware, brave, bright, broad-minded, calm, candid, capable, careful, certain, charming, charismatic, cheerful, Christ-like, clear, collaborative, committed, communicative, compassionate, conscientious, considerate, connected, conscience, considerate, consistent, contributes, cooperative, convivial, courageous, courteous, creative, curious, decisive, dedicated, determined, devoted, diligent, diplomatic, direct, disciplined, discreet, dynamic, easygoing, effective, efficient, empathetic, emotional, empowering, encouraging, energetic, enthusiastic, ethical, excitable, expressive, extroverted, exuberant, facilitates, fair, fair-minded, faithful, fearless, flexible, focused, forceful, forgiving, frank, free, friendly, funny, generous, gentle, godly, good, grateful, gregarious, happy, hard-working, helpful, hilarious, holy, honest, honorable, humble, humorous, imaginative, immaculate, impartial, independent, innovative, inquiring, inquisitive, integrates, integrity, intellectual, intentional, intelligent, interested, intimate, intuitive, inventive, just, jovial, jolly, joyful, kind, knowledgeable, leading, listener, lively, logical, lovely, loving, loyal, manages time well, mature, modest, neat, networks, nice, nurturer, open-minded, optimistic, organized, passionate, patient, peaceful, peppy, persistent, pioneering, philosophical, placid, planner, poised, polite, powerful, playful, practical, presents self well, pro-active, problem solver, productive, punctual, quick-witted, quiet, rational, realistic, reliable, reserved, resourceful, respectful, responsible, self-confident, self-controlled, self-disciplined, sense of humor, selfless, sensible, sensitive, serious, servant, sincere, skillful, sociable, spiritual, spontaneous, stable, straightforward, strong, successful, supportive, sympathetic, tactful, tenacious, thoughtful, tidy, tough, trusting, trustworthy, truthful, unassuming, understanding, unpretentious, unselfish, versatile, vibrant, warm, warmhearted, willing, wise, witty, youthful, zealous

The Honor Project—BLOG IT!

1.) First, decide if you want to blog this journey, or use another method. If you choose to blog, I suggest a free site such as Blogger.

(https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=blogger&passive=1209600&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fhome&followup=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fhome&ltmpl=start#s01)

We are choosing to make our blog private, so that we are the only ones who can read it or write in it.

2.) Next, decide how often you and your family members will write to each other. If you choose to write once a week, maybe each person could be assigned to a certain day of the week. Make it work for you/your family!

3.) The goal of “The Honor Project” is to share only things that edify encourage and build up others. A suggested script might be, “Dear _____. You showed ________ (name the positive character trait) when you _______________________ (name the specific incident/evidence of that trait). It made me feel _______________ (name the positive emotion you felt) when you did this….” This is only a suggestion and may be expounded on. I will add a resource to this page with suggested positive character traits as well as emotions.

4.) Feel free to add photos, songs and other graphics that would enhance your posts.

5,) Encourage family members to read the blog often, perhaps even go back and read precious posts.

6.) Determine one night each week (or each month) when you will sit down as a family and discuss the blog and how it is affecting you. This would be a wonderful time to let others know how their words make you feel.

7.) At the end of the year, or when you have enough entries written, consider going to http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html and print out your blog to have as a family keepsake.

The Honor Project

Honor is one little word that holds much power. Our family chose “honor” as our one word focus for 2012. As the year draws to a close, we realize we still have so much to learn about honoring one another, God, and others. We wanted to do something to ramp up honor in our home. Using technology and the tools we have at our fingertips, we are beginning a blog named “The Honor Project.” Each week we will take time to sit down and intentionally write words of praise for our family members and honor them for the positive character qualities we see in their lives. I believe this project will have a lasting impact on our family and on the generations to come.

It dawned on me that others might jump into a similar project if given the challenge. I invite you to join us! This blog is set up to encourage us to stay the course. I will make suggestions of how to start, but make it your own project! Some will use blogs, while others will choose to write in journals or in cards. Make this work for you and your family. What matters is that we speak words of love and affirmation over our loved ones. I often say, “Give me flowers while I’m living.” In other words, don’t wait until I die to come to my funeral and give a flowery speech of what I meant to you. It’s too late. I’m gone. Instead, see each day as a precious opportunity to speak life, love and kindness into the lives of those closest to you.

I will believe that actions speak louder than words. Faith without works is dead. Often, I will choose a challenge that requires action. If the challenge does not apply to you or your family, adapt it or use one from a previous day. We will focus on honoring God, our families, our neighbors, our co-workers and total strangers!

Honor begins at home. We may be experts at treating others well. What do we say to those who live under the same roof? Do we assume they know that we love them? Do we assume they know what we appreciate about them? Do we assume they know the qualities we find most beautiful within their hearts? Let’s stop assuming and let’s start sharing!

Hebrews 3:13 admonishes us, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today.” There are many other passages in the Bible that command us to encourage, edify and build each other up. Find one that your family loves and memorize it together. It may be the very thing that keeps you going when you start to stray from this project.

BLOG IT! Our family has chosen to write in a blog to one another, weekly recording words of praise and evidences of godly character. More suggestions will be coming.

WRITE IT! If you do not want to begin a blog, go the route of writing out your words of praise in a journal, on stationary or on handmade cards. More suggestions will be coming.

SCRAPBOOK IT! A picture is worth a thousand words. Photos evoke many memories for each of us. More suggestions will be coming.

SPEAK IT! As powerful as it is to receive written words of praise, it is also crucial to speak those words over others. Don’t neglect this step. At first, it may feel awkward, but practice makes perfect. Look your loved one in the eye and let them know how much you love and appreciate them. More suggestions will be coming.

SHOW IT! Actions always speak louder than words. Make sure your actions line up with your words. Remember to practice love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. If we are exhibiting these traits, others will have no trouble trusting the sincerity of our words. More suggestions will be coming.

SHARE IT! Without betraying any confidences of your loved ones, share with others how this project has affected your family. We’d love to hear testimonies and are open to ideas of how to practice honor in our home! Your suggestions will be coming!
Blessings on your journey to honor! My prayer is that we become more like Him with each new day.