Render All Their Due

August 18

Render All Their Due from the Berean      “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” Romans 13:7 According to the thesaurus, honor has these synonyms: "esteem, respect, pay homage to, assign value to." The Greek word translated "honor" in our English Bibles, timao, means "to prize, i.e. fix a valuation upon; by implication, to revere" according to Strong's Concordance. Showing honor, then, means treating another respectfully because we value them highly. So is honor due anyone? Should we put value on any man or woman, or should we honor God alone? What does the Bible say? A study with a concordance reveals just how much God has to say about honoring others. He does not limit it to honoring our parents. This verse tells us clearly honor is due certain ones, but it begs the questions: To whom is honor due besides God? And how do we honor others? The truth is that we will never sincerely respect, prize, value, or honor anyone until and unless we start with an attitude of meekness. Honoring and respecting others will not happen when a superior or holier-than-thou attitude is present within us. Paul tells us to "esteem others better than" ourselves (see Philippians 2:3). When we truly repent of what we are, and how we regularly fall short of God's holiness, we cannot remain in a pompous mood. Perhaps we can learn from some of those who have lived God's way before us.  John the Baptist says of himself: "He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease," John 3:30.  Paul considers himself "the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle," I Corinthians 15:9.  He also writes that he is "less than the least of all the saints," Ephesians 3:8. History will conclude otherwise, but this word opens a window into Paul's thinking.  When we dishonor others, it is a sure sign we are thinking of ourselves or others wrongly. We are to love others as ourselves, honoring them. Honoring from a pure motive is possible only when we have a proper perspective of who God is, what we are, and who others are in relation to us and God.  It begins with deep honor and respect for God—and thus for all He says. The first four commandments lay the foundation for doing this.