Hi, my name is Mel Ponder, and I’m a representative in the Florida House DIstrict 4 and today we are with God TV. For me, and the role that I serve in the city, as well as a workplace minister, I’ve really pressed into this word “honor”. I really believe that honor to me is celebrating who a person is and not what they are not. Today my prayer is that each of us would be challenged what the word “honor” means to you.
I wrote a book called Honor: The Pathway To Community Transformation. For me, I break the word down simply, this way:
H: Honor. Again, celebrating the gift and calling of God on everyone because everyone is valuable. Everyone has a significant call upon their life, and if they don’t do their role well then your city, your community, your workplace is just not the same.
O: We are called to ONE community as one body of believers, unity. The brethren, we are meant to come together, work in functionality. There is a blessing that is left behind. In fact, Psalm 133 says, “There the Lord, commands the blessing when the brethren walk together in unity.”
N: Not allowing outside influences to affect your city. You know, we are all, to some degree, watchmen on the wall for our community, for our church, for our workplace. We are to looking out and looking in. Recognize is there trouble on the inside that we need to expose? Are there things that are unhealthy that are affecting the DNA of our city or workplace that we need to highlight? Is there something on the horizon trying to come into our city? Trying to come into our gates that will affect our children, our workplace, the culture of our city? Could it be affected? Watchmen on the wall.
O: Others focused. How do we serve our community? How do we look from our self to serving other people? To recognize putting on honor on once and maybe not get celebrated. To be looking externally sometimes is greater than looking internally, actually, as you get to serve other people and put your focus on them.
Lastly, R: Radical generosity. I love this when I find out that people who have excelled in their trade, turn around – whether they get recognition or not – turn around and bless others. I heard someone the other day talk about a pastor of a city that actually took up an offering to bless pastor in another city – who he didn’t even know – who had fallen on hard times. Radical generosity.
It’s amazing. When you tell someone that and you’re radically generous to other people it messes with their mind. I love that. It causes them to back up and say, “Man, why did you love me that way and honor me that way?” It’s a challenge, and it’s a calling to step into this word honor in your life. I bless everyone today, I thank you, Lord, that how they would interpret the word “honor”, what it means to them, to their family, to their workplace, and their city, Lord. Help them to step out. Step out of the box, being to honor other people, celebrate the, expecting the goodness of God to invade their hearts and homes. In Jesus’ name.