When my brother and sister-in-law were married in the Philippines a few years ago, we travelled there for the wedding and to meet our new extended family. The first time I met my brother’s Filipino nieces, I was overwhelmed with their love and affection as they took my hand placed it on their forehead whispering, “Mano po”.
The word ‘mano’ is Spanish for ‘hand’, and the word ‘po’ is often used in Filipino culture at the end of each sentence as a sign of respect when addressing an older person. This is a beautiful, physical gesture of honour that children are expected to perform towards adult relatives and adult family friends. Failure to do this in Filipino culture would be considered dishonouring, so experiencing this gesture made me wonder what we do in Australia to honour people. I couldn’t think of much. Actually, I think it’s fair to say that we've become a culture that is primarily without honour.
Even in cultures where honouring is valued, generally those who are showed honour are elders, family, people in authority, and those we decide, due to position or performance, are deserving of honour. If someone is the right person, believes the right things or behaves the right way, we consider them worthy of honour. Conversely, if one does not believe the right things or behave the right way, they may be shamed, rather than honoured.
This week, we consider what the Bible teaches about honouring everybody, always. Honour is a declaration of the inherent value others have as image-bearers of God. We honour one another because we have been honoured. Honour is central to who God is and what he does, therefore it should be central to the life of every Christian.

Ver todos los episodios