Honor /ˈänər/ verb: regard with great respect.
The opportunity to serve God and other people is an opportunity to honor God and people. At New Life we like to say that excellence honors God and people. What is “excellence” in this context? It is simply doing the best you can with what you have available. Obviously, that varies from person to person and situation to situation, but at the root of honor is a desire to do the very best we can.
What does this look like to honor God and people while serving? It is everything from committing to serve in an area where you can, to showing up on time and even finding a replacement to serve in your place if you run into a schedule conflict. Taking time to pray with and for the people you’re serving, inviting God to be present in their lives is another way to honor God while serving. It means taking the time to complete a task to the point that you would be excited to offer it to God as worship to Him.
Sometimes doing things with excellence can be very simple. There’s an unwritten rule in the office that you never make a handwritten sign that gets placed in a public area. Why? Because all of us have access to a computer and a printer so there really isn’t a reason for us not to take just a moment longer and print a nicer looking sign to post up. This not only shows God we are willing to steward well that which has been entrusted to us but it also shows people that we care enough about them we are willing to take the extra time to print out something legible for them to read. This is honoring to both God and people.
Sometimes, however, the honor may be a bit more difficult. You may find yourself in a situation where you’ve agreed to serve with a small team of volunteers to deliver furniture, setup for an event, or greet at a gathering. A day or two before the event you find out that you and your family need to go on a trip. The easy thing is to not show up because the team can handle whatever it is without you. The more difficult way to handle the situation is to contact other people you know and ask someone else to take your place on the team. This honors everyone else on the team and the love you display doing that honors God as well.
We serve an amazing God. A God that loved us enough to send His Son to the cross for our sins. We have been saved and now have the opportunity to serve others as an outpouring of that same love. Serving with excellence in all that we do shows honor to God for His commitment to us and it shows people how much they mean to Him. “Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” (Romans 12:10 NLT)