Keep it Simple
Theology is important. But in the Bible, doctrine is never divorced from relationships. The two are intertwined and inseparable.
And relationships can be messy.
Peter is about to give more detailed instruction about work, family, and church relationships. But before doing that, he gives a simple summary of how we should relate to people in general.
He makes it very clear:
“Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
Four brief sentences. Four relationships examined.
The structure of the verse is interesting and instructive. Honor serves as bookends—honor everyone and honor the king. In the context of the letter, Peter is helping us understand how to live in a world that is hostile to our faith. When both our fellow citizens and our king are opposed to Christ, how should we treat them?
We honor them.
In the middle, Peter shows us what honor looks like. We love our fellow Christians like family, and we fear God with reverence. But we do not love everyone like family, and we do not fear people the way we fear God. Instead, for the sake of the gospel and the glory of God, we honor them.
So what does it mean to honor people?
We pay attention to them. We treat them as people who exist, who matter, and who deserve to be heard. Sometimes we even praise them. We should never praise people more than God, but we can acknowledge what is good and commendable in them.
Jesus did this with the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, and Nicodemus.
Most of all, we honor others when we see them as people made in God’s image. Sin has marred that image, but it has not erased it.
So today, ask yourself how you can show honor to someone.
First Peter 2:17 tells us that both everyone and the king are to be honored. This doesn’t mean we treat the king like everyone else.
It means we treat everyone else like the king.
