During the month of January, we will be reposting some of the top posts from 2016. We hope these will encourage you and connect to your heart. Stay tuned for all new posts coming in February 2017!
When my husband and I moved to Plainview, we were newly married, swimming through life with love and a whole lot of immaturity! We joined Harvest, and God began to put my husband and I on a path of learning honor that started in our home.
I began to learn that honor was a state of my heart. It didn’t matter what Jodie did or didn’t do or deserve, my heart was called to honor this man. Wait, what??
That would require me to humble myself, bite my tongue, and allow the Holy Spirit to transform my heart? YES!
I was given the incredible opportunity to have a family and be called to work outside the home. I was also put on another path: learning to honor in the workplace. As much as I often struggled with whether to work or stay home with my kids, God always led me to a place of work outside the home. For a long time, I beat myself up over what I thought Christian women would say about me if I didn’t stay home with my kids. But I knew God had called me to work outside the home; so I embraced it, gave it my all, and have chosen to not be ashamed to walk in God’s best for me!
So, how do we as women embrace honor in the workplace? How do we cultivate a heart condition/environment that honor will flourish in?
There will always be many work situations that are both positive and negative. You may work for the best boss in the world, or you may have a boss that is controlling and rules with an iron fist. Either way, does it change God’s desire for us to live from a place of honor?
How do I respond when my boss makes me mad? What if I disagree with a decision that was made? How does my “talk” about him/her show honor? What if they make a mistake? How do I respond? What if others try to draw me into their negative conversation about my boss? Do I do the same amount of work when I am monitored and when I am not?
Ephesians 6:5-8 says,
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
This scripture is pretty straightforward. Do your “work” as unto the Lord. But if the state of our heart has not embraced the foundational truth of honor, then this scripture will be offensive, out of reach, and defeating.
How do we begin this journey and get on a path of honor?
It begins with surrendering and believing who we are in Christ. If I don’t believe who I am in Christ—that I am righteous, whole, and lacking nothing—then my boss, husband, or any authority figure can send me into a “tizzy” real quick. No matter what my boss does, I am ok and secure in Christ. My faith is not in man but Christ alone.
I can honor my boss and cover him/her because of who I am, not because of his/her merit. We can’t change anything on our own. We can’t “will” or try harder for our heart to change; only the Holy Spirit can do that. In the process of allowing God to transform our beliefs, our choices can start to mirror God’s heart. When I learned this powerful, life-changing truth, my world was turned upside down, and my “work” blessings have multiplied 100-fold!
As I began living out the truth about honor, God began to show me, as the picture above so beautifully portrays, I was like a child who needed foundational truth. I needed to embrace the reality that honor is not about the other person; it’s about the condition of my heart. The result of growing in honor is a doorway to endless possibilities and blessing.
Come join me on this journey?
This post was written by Amy Meek. To read more about her, click here.
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