Honor By Comparison

Transcript

Greeting’s in Jesus’ Name.
We hope that the Lord is continually encouraging you and strengthening you. We thank God for the victories He gives us. We thank God for the provisions that He brings us. We thank God for the open doors that He gives us. It is necessary that we have a good attitude about the blessings that we had receive from the Lord. It is not just enough we be thankful and grateful to the Lord, but it is also necessary we be humble in our relationship with others. Sometimes when we get a victory or the blessing from the Lord, automatically we begin to look down on others who don’t have a similar breakthrough or a similar blessing. We try to advice them and counsel them and preach to them, hoping that they will try and look up to us that we have received something from the Lord and they did not. What we fail to understand is, that every blessings we have received in our lives, no matter how hard we have worked for it, no matter how hard we have prayed for it, no matter how hard we have sown , tithe or given for it. That blessing which comes to us is because of the Grace and Mercy of the Lord.
And when we understand this fact, it becomes easier for us to treat the brothers and sisters who are going through similar struggles and similar challenges with great compassion and love instead of judging them or looking down at their state.

Context-(Judges-8:1) The tribe of Ephraim they have gathered around Gideon asking him, why did you not let us fight with you? Why did you not let us go into the battle field with you. Because Gideon and his army they had won a mighty victory in the nation of Israel. But his brothers were very upset that they did not have a part to play in the great victory. So, now they have gathered around Gideon for an explanation. Gideon answers in chapter 8:3 – “How can I compare my success with what you did?” When the men of Ephraim heard Gideon’s answer, they were not as angry as they had been.”

When they originally approached Gideon these guys they were boiling with anger, they had seen the victory that God gave to the nation of Israel through Gideon and they were very upset and angry that, Gideon he did not included them. But the way that the Gideon postured his heart and the way he explained the whole thing to his brothers, the bible says; it just calmed their hearts and they were not as angry as before. So what did Gideon really told them? He said guys look at the victory that you have received and look at the victory you always had in your life. Our victory is not really great compare to the victories that you have received.
Now that was not logically true. That was not factually true. What Gideon has accomplished was greater than anybody else would have ever accomplished. And yet Gideon choose to value and credit and to give honour to his brothers for all the hard work they have been doing and he told them how the favour of the Lord is upon them as well.
Now, Gideon could have just stood and justified his actions and said, It was the Lord who told me not to take each and every one of you. Gideon has a huge army and God cut down that army to just 300 people. He could have just been very spiritual about it and would have said, I don’t want to associate with anybody, I don’t want to take you into the battle field. Yet he choose not to look down on these guys who couldn’t go into the battle field with him. Instead he choose to honour and respect them.
How many of our enemies that we have today could have been avoided if only we would have chosen to honor and respect them. Even when we are positioned greater, even when we have better perspective, even when we have spiritual revelations. What does it cost to honor your brother and sister? Honoring somebody that is above you is not very hard. But honoring somebody that is below you, that doesn’t have blessings as much as you do, honoring them and still appreciating the favour of God upon their life, calling out the light that they already experienced and enjoyed, calling out the goodness insight of them, that requires serious maturity and that is exactly what Gideon has expressed in this particular scripture. The problem was sorted. There was no anger, no more fighting, no more division within the tribe of Ephraim. And they were able to move forward and enjoy the blessings and the victory that the Lord had brought through Gideon.
We hope and pray that today some of us have the revelation, the understanding and the heart and the humility to honour people and to honor those who don’t have the same revelation that we have. Please stop looking down on someone else who doesn’t believe in spiritual fatherhood. Please stop looking down on someone who doesn’t believe in tithing. Stop looking down on someone who doesn’t understand the value of being in the church. Can we just learn to appreciate the little that they have. Can we just honor them and bless them. And at the right time they will also be able to part-take in the grace and the favour and the blessing that is upon our life. And today, if we receive this revelation in our heart, the Lord will surely give us divine favour in each and everyone of our relationships.

Pray: Father we thank you for giving us a lesson from the story of Gideon. We pray that our hearts will be postured to honor, love and serve even to the people that don’t have everything we have. We thank you for this word. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.