Thought for this Week – STRIVE FOR TRUE HONOUR

Thought for this Week – STRIVE FOR TRUE HONOUR

It was Albert Barnes who sagely said that “True honour consists not in splendid endowments, or great wealth and office. It consists in rightly discharging the duties which God requires of us in our appropriate sphere. If all men held their talents as the gift of God; if all would find and occupy in society the place for which God designed them, it would prevent no small part of the uneasiness, the restlessness, the ambition, and misery of the world.” These words of Albert Barnes fitly describe the ideal understanding of honour by most Nigerians. Regrettably, this is the teaching of ‘some pastors’ that Christ has liberated us from poverty. They assert that poverty is a curse and a Christian ought not to be poor. Do they really understand what poverty means?

In the words of Albert Barnes here, the true honour of anybody; be you a Christian, Muslim, someone who practices traditional religion or even Atheist is to first and foremost understand that your talent, wealth or office you occupy is a gift. Secondly, we should use these talents, wealth and offices rightly as we discharge our duties wherever we may find ourselves in any given time. These understanding will help us a lot is maintaining easy life void of unnecessary ambition and miseries of life. Having such wealth or talent and being in any office/position is shouldn’t be an opportunity to victimise or abuse people. It shouldn’t be an opportunity to embezzle money entrusted unto your watch for the good of the masses.        

Today, many people think that true honour lies in wealth they have acquired, their talents or the position they occupy in the society. Instead of using these talents and wealth for the good of humanity, they stockpile them as if they are weapons of mass destruction. They forget that the places where they keep their wealth can be burgled into or be easily destroyed by termites. This informs the reason Jesus admonished us to keep our treasures where termite or robbers can’t destroy or take them away easily.

The best way to use our talents is to apply them rightly as God requires us to do. This involves helping the poor, remembering the needy; the widows, the orphans, the destitute, the indigent people especially the elderly among them, prisoners, and as many as are ‘genuine priests’ in the service of God. In the advanced societies, people who are blessed with wealth, channel them toward charity organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NG0s). That is why in Western world, some pay their tithes to charity and NGOs when they don’t even go to church. This is so because they have good orientation of how to use their wealth very well.

In my devotional, My Daily Covenant with God, the topic I treated today was USE YOUR GIFTS WELL. In the conclusion, I noted that “As God has given us diverse gifts, and appointed us into one office or another; we should faithfully use them and keep within the limits of our calling so that we do not neglect our duties or invade into that of others.” How are you striving for true honour according to Albert Barnes? Are you being selfish with your wealth, office and talent? Do you use these blessings to the glory of God? Remember that you have limited time here on earth.

We should note that right use of your wealth, talent or office is the best way to appreciate God who gave them to us. Therefore, don’t become ungrateful to your benefactor who gave you freely and expects you to give freely too. Be a motivator or a helper to somebody this week. Let your acts for this week, put your name in the biography of that your neighbour, colleague, friend, well wishers, parishioner, fellow church member, etc. I wish you a great week of touching lives and restoring joy to your friends.

Tabugbo Morgan Uzoma