‍You honor God when you value others above yourself and you are willing to give your time and your service to help them fulfill their needs. 

‍God gives each person unique gifts and abilities to achieve great things, and the world tells you that you should use them to promote yourself, race to get to the top and ahead of everyone else. But Jesus teaches us to be different, He says that when you value others above yourself, you honor God and He honors you!

‍Several years ago, I was working in Colombia on a humanitarian mission in response to the migrant crisis in South and Central America. Tens of thousands of people were fleeing their homes from violence and political unrest to find a better life for their families. 

‍The local churches were turned into shelters to offer migrants a safe place to rest so they could continue their journey. Humanitarian teams, who by trade were doctors, nurses, engineers, electricians arrived from all over the world to serve at the shelters. 

‍They installed showers, clean water filters, stocked shelves with food and opened health clinics to provide migrant families essential needs and medical attention. These ordinary people were doing extraordinary things with their gifts. They put their lives aside to serve strangers to honor them and restore their dignity while demonstrating God’s love in their darkest hour. 

‍Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” 

‍Imitating Christ’s humility expresses honor, respect and dignity to others. Having a humble spirit, displaying great respect and reverence towards people honors them and they feel valued. Sometimes this even means being willing to do things that may seem to be “below” you, but that can help you lift others up. 

‍During my visit to one of the shelters in Colombia, the kitchen staff needed help, so a nurse quietly picked up a cutting tool and with a big smile began chopping vegetables. At the same time, an engineer in his limited Spanish and with great care explained to shelter workers how to operate the new water system he had installed for them. 

‍The humble actions of these servants honored the migrants with such grace and dignity it expressed God’s love in a powerful way. As believers it reveals who we are and also reminds others who they are—a child of the living God, created in His image.

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Listening with an open heart reveals the needs of others

‍Every day you have choices of how to spend your time, but you can honor someone and show them how much you value them by simply helping to fill a need. You won’t need to travel to a foreign country, there are plenty of opportunities all around you. 

‍Listen with an open heart and you will become sensitive to the needs of friends, family and co-workers. Let’s say you are visiting your grandmother and notice she doesn’t get many visitors—she loves to read but her vision is failing so you pick up a new book and stop by regularly to read to her. 

‍Maybe you have friends who are married with children but they don’t have family in town so you offer to watch the kids so they can have a date night.  Perhaps a colleague at work is having trouble learning a skill that you master so you offer to help train them in your spare time. It is in simple, everyday acts of kindness that we show people how valuable they are to us.

‍The best news is that God honors you when you show others that you value them. Psalm 8:5 says, “You made him [man] a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” Wow! God crowns you with glory and honor when you honor others. 

‍Ask God to give you a humble spirit that can learn how to value others above yourself and for Him to show you the needs of those around you. Remember that finding ways to honor them and help them in small daily tasks can be the greatest expression of God’s love in their lives. . 

‍You can also attend an ILMC event or sign up for Growth Track and join a team to find opportunities to serve others!

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