What the Bible says about Honoring God – 8 Ways to Honor God

As Christians, we all want to honor God. But how? The Bible mentions many ways in which we can honor God and Jesus, including turning the other cheek, giving to others, and keeping promises.

Of course, knowing what the Bible says about Honoring God is good, but practice makes perfect. What good is it to know that we are called to honor God if we don’t actually do it?

Here are 8 ways to Honor God that can offer a helping hand when it comes to putting the spirit of His word into practice:

What the Bible says about Honoring God

As Christians, we must honor God’s Word, the Bible. That implies we should handle it with respect and care. We shouldn’t let it touch the ground or leave it in areas where it could be disrespected by others.

But obeying God’s Word entails more than just being careful with our Bibles. According to James 1:22, “Do not fool yourselves by just listening to the word. Follow the instructions.” The Bible is a living document. It has the ability to change us from within (Hebrews 4:12).

Making an effort to obey what God’s Word teaches us how we genuinely honor it. The Bible instructs us on how to live a good life that pleases God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). As Christians, we have His Holy Spirit dwelling inside us (Ephesians 1:13) – the same Spirit who inspired the Bible’s authors (2 Peter 1:20-21).

We reverence God’s Word and His Spirit who lives in us when we set aside time each day to read and study the Bible. He will give us insight if we apply God’s Word to our lives and beg for His assistance in obeying Him (James 1:5)

What does it mean to honor God?

From a Biblical perspective, respecting God is offering God the respect and adoration he deserves as our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. Exodus 20:1-7 informs us that the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, might, and mind. To respect God, then, is to carry out this commandment by demonstrating our love for Him via our actions and attitudes.

To truly observe this commandment, we must do two things: love what God loves and despise what he hates (Amos 5:15).

As Christians, we are supposed to be Christ’s disciples (Ephesians 5:1). And if we want to understand what it means to glorify God, we only need to look at Jesus’ life. Throughout his earthly mission, Jesus sought his Father’s will and did all in his power to bring honor to the Father.

8 Ways to Honor God

Imagine God himself asking that question of us. God is worthy of our honor for the same reasons that He was worthy of Israel’s honor. God has called us as He called them. He has preserved our nation as He did theirs.

He has blessed us as He blessed them. He has loved us with an everlasting love, just as He loved them. For these and countless other reasons, God is worthy of our honor. But how do we honor God?

Honoring God by honoring His house.

God’s house is more than a building. It is a holy place, a house of prayer, a sanctuary. It is a place that God would like to inhabit, so in that sense, when we come in, we are approaching
God himself. Psalm 89:7 says, “God is great to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.”

The first Apostolic Faith Church service I attended was on March 17, 1974, I was a 21-year-old college student, and as I sat there with my sister, I observed as newcomers do. I noticed that when the musicians came out onto the platform, they knelt in prayer before taking their seats.

When the ministers came out, they knelt also. The meeting was conducted in a simple but effective manner. At the end of the service, the whole congregation knelt to pray on benches in front of the pulpit. I could tell that it was a place of reverence just by the way the service was conducted, and that was very appealing.

Though I was an unchurched individual, I left that meeting with no doubt that those people had a great deal of reverence for the God they claimed to serve.

Honoring God by our approach to Him.

We should present ourselves before God in a respectable manner, which involves both our attire and our demeanor. I hadn’t been to a church in a decade or more when I attended to that first gathering.

When I was younger and had gone to church a few times, I was “slicked up” before going. Even though I was raised in a family where the Gospel was not preached, I knew what my Sunday best should be.

I knew I needed to attend to church once I was rescued, so I put on my best before going to a service.

It makes logical to give God our best effort. It is not done to earn God’s favor by dressing appropriately for church. Rather, it is to glorify Him and His residence.

What would we have done if the governor had invited us to dinner? What would we wear? What would be our strategy for approaching him? We’d approach him with the deference he deserves as a result of his position, and it’d show in our appearance and demeanor.

Honoring God by honoring His name.

Matthew 6:9 includes a very simple phrase: “Hallowed be thy name.” The word hallowed means “holy.” It refers to something set apart for sacred use. God’s name is holy.

It is sacred! We should never use the Name of the Lord flippantly, casually, or should not use slang words that represent the Name of the Lord.

We should not use His name as an expression of anger or disgust. When we speak that precious Name, we should say it with utmost reverence and respect.

When hearing some of the words that come out of people’s mouths, I wonder if the Lord does not step back and say, “Where is my honor? Where is fear, where is reverence?” When we use His name, let it be in a reverent manner.

Honoring God by Honoring His Word.

Psalm 138:2 tells us, “Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” if God has magnified His Word, we realize how important it is to treasure and value the Bible. The Bible should be treated like no other book in the house.

We can show respect to God’s Word by not stacking things on the Bible or placing it on the floor. The way we take care of the Bible is not a matter of superstition. We are not living in Old Testament times when if a person did the wrong thing at the wrong time, he risked being stoned. We will not be struck dead if we mishandle the Bible, but we miss a blessing. God says,

“Where is mine honour?” In honoring the Word of the Lord and respecting it, we have shown God that we reverence Him.

Honoring God’s Word takes more than simply being careful how we handle our Bibles. Leaving it sitting in a special place until it becomes dusty is not honoring God. We want to honor Him by reading the Book and then by observing what it tells us to do.

That is how God gets His honor. That is when God places His name upon His people, so the Lord has indeed magnified His Word above all His name.

Honoring God by honoring His day.

On any given Sunday as we drive to and from church, we likely see people washing cars, mowing lawns, or working on their houses. Many people use Sunday to run to the mall, to attend sporting events, or catch up on household chores and other errands.

God says, “Where is mine honor?” In Genesis 2 we read that God “rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it”
(Genesis 2:2-3).

To rest, in that verse, means “to cease from labor.” God did not need rest because He was tired, but He did it to institute a day of rest for us. We read that God sanctified the day, which means He dedicated it, hallowed it, and set it apart to be a day devoted to spiritual renewal and the invigorating of the inner man.

On our day of rest, we cease the other six days of the week in order to focus on the inner man. We do not want to become casual or careless about our activities on that day and be distracted from their real purpose. God is worthy of our honor and our reverence.

In Isaiah 58:13-14, we read promises for those who set apart a day each week for honoring God. We read, “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth.” If we honor God, God will honor us.

When I got saved, I was employed on a neighbor’s farm. My brother worked there also, along with a handful of others. I was the only Christian among them, and I knew I needed a church.

So on Sunday, I just went to church. I did not tell my boss that I would not be at work that day, but he let it go. And before the summer was over, everyone was taking Sunday off! I find it somewhat humorous that as a new convert, I changed the whole employment policy of that operation! Somehow, that desire to honor God by attending church was down in my heart.

Honoring God by tithes and offerings.

The Children of Israel had become neglectful of tithing. Through the prophet Malachi, God asked, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.

But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:8-9).

The Israelites had dishonored God by withholding their tithes that provided for the support of the Levites and for the maintenance of the House of God. So He asked, “Where is my honor? Honor Me with your substance.

Proverbs 3:9 reads,

“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase”

The Children of Israel were not to take for themselves everything they wanted and then see if there was anything left to offer God. They were to give God His due first.

The tithe belongs to God, not to us. What we give God is His, to begin with. God gave us 100 percent and trusted us to return the 10 percent to Him. He does not need our money, but we need His blessing. If we honor Him, He will honor us.

Honoring God with our bodies

In 1 Corinthians 6:19, we read,

“Know ye not that your body is the of the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought it with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Paul was reminding the Corinthian church that the Blood of Christ bought them and that they should glorify God in their bodies for that reason. The same charge is ours today.

The world accepts and promotes immodesty, immorality, and even the defacing of the body with piercings and tattoos. Parents send their twelve-year-old daughters out looking like street women.

Young boys are allowed to dress like thugs and gangsters. I am stunned that society would deem such inappropriate attire and filthy behavior acceptable. May none of us be entertained by that! May none of us expose our beloved children to that element!

Our bodies are to be the temple of God. The Bible standard is one of purity, chastity, and holiness. As Christians, We should be distinguished from the world in the way we look and conduct ourselves. We must not relinquish our faith or our integrity to the spirit of the world.

Honoring God by honoring authority.

Romans 13:1-2 says, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God.” Every aspect of life demands submission to authority.

When I was a boy, I rode a school bus. I had a propensity to misbehave on the bus, so finally the driver assigned me a particular seat. When that happened, I knew better than to go home and complain to Mom and Dad. Even if the school bus driver had been wrong, they would not have supported me. They stood behind those in a position of authority.

I am frankly amazed again when parents so quickly rally to the cause of their child who has disrespected authority. When we teach a child to honor authority, even if that authority is less than perfect, we are teaching them to honor God.

The system of authority was established by God for our good. It is for our protection. It is for our blessing. We cannot think we are honoring God if we dishonor our employer, our parents, our schoolteacher, our spiritual leaders, or our spouses. When we honor them, we honor God.

How to honor God in everything you do

First, understand that God is in control of your life. He created you, and He cares about you very much. He loves you so much that He gave His Son Jesus Christ to die for you on the cross (Romans 5:8).

Know that God has a plan for your life—a good plan! You can live each day confident that God is with you and will help you. If you ask Him, God will show you what His plan is for your life. The Bible tells us: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Make the choice to give your whole life to Jesus Christ. If you haven’t already done this, ask Jesus to come into your heart right now. Tell Him that you believe in Him and want to follow Him all the days of your life. Pray this prayer, or one like it: “Dear Jesus, I am a sinner. I don’t want to be separated from You anymore. Please forgive me of all my sins. Thank You for dying on the cross for me. Come into my heart and save me today

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The end result

When we honor God, this is the end result: “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of
the stall” (Malachi 4:2).

Honoring God is a formula for going through life satisfied. As we honor God in every aspect of our lives, we will find that every aspect of our lives is blessed.

Credit

Darrel Lee is Superintendent General of the Apostolic Faith Church and pastor of the headquarters church in Portland, Oregon.