Week 4 Day 2: Think About What Is Honorable

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8 NASB

If we want to feed on what is good, the first thing we must do is think about what is true. That starts with the truth about who God is and the truth about who we are. The next step for us is to think about and do what is honorable.

Honor is an agreement we make with ourselves as to how we will act. It is the quality of demonstrating who we are through our actions, not our words. This code of conduct is evident through various elements such as valor, chivalry, honesty, integrity and compassion. It demonstrates qualities of worthiness and respectability that not only affects our own self-worth, it deeply impacts those around us.

An honorable person is a person of integrity. Integrity means “whole,” so a person of integrity doesn’t have multiple personalities depending on who is around. For instance, if they won’t use foul language in front of some people, they will not use foul language in front of anyone. People of honor always act in alignment with their beliefs and words. They are always the same person in public as in private, there is no “fakeness” to them. They will not do anything that goes against their code of conduct…even if they know they won’t get caught doing it.

There is a freedom to not have to be cautious about what we say or do in front of others. When we are people of integrity we don’t have to hide or cover up anything. Our words and actions are the same in front of our spouse, our children, our friends, our boss and our coworkers. We can relax and be ourselves no matter what the situation.

Honor comes from virtuous conduct and personal integrity. It is hard to have those if our minds are fixed on worldly things. When our minds are fixed on Christ, we have the peace of knowing God is ultimately in control of all circumstances and situations. Doing what’s right all the time may not always get us what we want, but under God’s love and authority it will always give us what we need.

We should consistently test our own integrity and ask God to show us where we need to be made whole. We should examine ourselves to see if we are the same person at work that we are at home. We need to be aware if we speak the same way in church that we do when we're out with friends. We must work to make sure our language is consistent around everyone we encounter. We need to check to see that our actions and words remain stable no matter what the circumstances.

Do your words and actions line up with the person you want to be? In what ways are you a person of integrity and what areas do you need to make whole?

Meditate on "whatever is honorable" today.