“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:8
One of the things that we are instructed to do in the Word is to honor God. 
In these fast-paced times when honoring almost everything but God is rampant, it can be easy for believers to forget their obligation to honor the creator. Honor has several different meanings all of which can be applied to our relationship with God. First of all, it can mean to greatly esteem, secondly it can mean to fulfill, and thirdly it can mean privilege. In one way or another all three of those meanings should come into play in our worship of God.
First of all, we should esteem God above all else. We can do that in many ways, but most 
importantly we must believe in His Word. It is hard to say that we are honoring God if we don’t read the Word and obey its instruction. If we want show respect to the boss at work, we do what he says. That is a form of honor. If our hearts our right, we are honoring to God. The Word says that the greatest commandments are to “Love the Lord God with all our heart and mind and soul, and to Love our neighbors as ourselves.” If we fulfill the instructions in the Word with those two things in mind we will be esteeming God as we should.
There are hundreds of ways outlined in the Word that we can honor God. If we read what He says, take it to heart, and follow through with His commands our actions will be honoring. We are told that we should use the Bible as our textbook for behavior, and when we do, we honor Him, “All scripture is given by inspiration 
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) We are told to pray and when we do, we honor Him, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6) We are told to put others first and when we do, we honor Him, “Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3) We are told to study the Bible and when we do, we honor Him, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) We are told to we need to accept the sacrifice of the Son and when we do, we honor God. “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
When we esteem the Word, do what it says, we honor Him. When we 
ignore the Word, we dishonor Him. It is pretty clear. But we shouldn’t get this wrong. We are not following God’s instruction so that we can earn His love. We are following God’s instruction because we love Him and want to show our love. We earn nothing by our actions; we show something by our actions. We show honor. We can get so caught up in our own lives that we forget that honoring God should be our top priority. I told you a few weeks ago about “top-button” theology. If we get our top button right on our shirts, all the other buttons will align. That top button is honoring God. If we get that right, the rest of life will align. If not, all other things will be askew.
Honor also means to fulfill our responsibilities. If we honor our obligations, that in itself is honoring. We no longer walk this earth on our own accord. We represent Christ. Along with that representation are certain kinds of behavior that glorify Him. God has told us that he has paid a debt for us in full. “He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:25) He will honor that. We, in turn, can show our love by honoring the obligations we have to Him. It is clear what He asks of us, “He has told you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) We will honor Him, by honoring what we are called to do. Many Christians spend six days a week sowing wild oats and then come to church and pray because of crop failure. That does not honor God.
Honor also means privilege. It is an honor to serve God. “But be sure 
to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.” (1 Samuel 12:24) If we consider our service to Him an honor, that is honoring to Him. Paul tells us that, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) If we are doing things for God, it honors God. If we honor God all other things will be taken care of.
Our honor thanks Him for His grace and mercy. Our love for Him recognizes His love for us. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) So, it is an honor to honor Him, and we should honor the command to honor by honoring Him whenever and wherever honor is possible. Phew, that is a mouthful, but with God’s help we can do more than say it- we can do it.