Ok. Back from a great week at the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale. Time to get back into my routine!
Two weeks ago (has it been that long?) I posted a three part series titled Be Devoted to One Another based on the first half of Romans 12:10, Be devoted to one another in love. This is the first of seventeen “one anothering passages” that occur throughout the New Testament. The second one is actually the second part of Romans 12:10, Honor one another above yourselves.
The context of this verse is about how a godly love manifests itself in our relationships with one another. If we love one another, we will be devoted to one another. If we are devoted to one another, we will honor one another above ourselves. The three are connected. We tend to honor the things we are devoted to, and we tend to be devoted to the things we love, right?
The word the NIV translates as honor literally means to place give a monetary price to something or to hold something as precious. In places like this where it is being used figuratively or morally, it means to greatly value something or someone, to respect, dignify, or to honor a person.
The phrase above yourselves, is the translation of a word that only occurs in this verse. It means to go before, to set an example, to give precedence, or to prefer. The ESV tries to capture the meaning of the word translating our section of this verse like this: Outdo one another in showing honor. If I were going to try my hand at translating the thought of the Greek, I would say: Honor one another, and do it in such a way as to be a shining example and teacher of how it is done.
Living for God through Christ means excelling at honoring one another. What does it mean to honor one another? When Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:17 (NIV), Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever, the same word is used. To honor God means to hold Him in the highest esteem, to value Him more than anything else, to hold Him as the most precious treasure we have; it means to revere Him, respect Him, and to hold Him above ourselves. To honor one another in love is to do the same but not to that ultimate degree. It means to treat a person with high esteem, to place a great value on them.
More tomorrow…
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 
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