Daily declaration - Honor
The Honor Declaration (daily reminder of the "big idea")
We see ourselves in Christ as honorable finishers. We will live this day in SYNC with the intentions of King Jesus when he carried his cross, putting his steel into our souls.
OR,
This is a day to remember Jesus carrying his cross, and to live like it matters. (This version is included in the "default wording" for the Jubilee Cards.)
OR,
This is a day to remember Jesus carrying his cross, giving his followers everything we need to finish honorably.
OR,
This is a day to carry our cross, and we keep going.
Use the above or any similar wording to keep the example of Jesus on your mind as you go through your day. We simply cannot quit on someone who went through that shame and pain for us. He has won our loyalty. This we know for sure, and we can build our lives around it.
The more resilient we are under human shaming, the more it makes people wonder how we can hold up. Why do we not crack under the pressure? It defies human explanation because it is not a human thing. It's a God thing.
FAQs about the Declaration
1. What is the point of making an "Honor Declaration" at all?
Fearlessness, significance, and eventual joy.
Fearlessness because by repeating the Honor Declaration, we take control of our day instead of letting it dictate things to us. We set the tone for the day, and the tone relates to the fact the King Jesus experienced his agony without the slightest intimidation. There was never any doubt that he, the Spearhead of God's whole campaign, would stay faithful to his messianic identity and mission. The Honor Declaration connects us to his fearlessness.
Significance because "honorable finishers" are a central part of his campaign strategy. Jesus is not simply showing the world that he can finish well himself. He is showing that he can put his Spirit, his strength of character, and his sacrificial commitment into us as his followers, and we can finish honorably too. This has huge significance because it shows that humans can participate in his honorability, not just admire it.
Eventual joy because honorable behavior involves delayed gratification. Jesus, "for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising its shame" (Hebrews 12.2). Jesus didn't try to put on a joyful face as he carried his cross. There was no joy at the time. But he was trusting God the Father for future joy, and the Father honors that kind of trust. Quitters never get to know that joy, and the Honor Declaration keeps us from become quitters.
2. When we make our Declaration about Jesus carrying his cross, are we basically saying that people should stick with their cause doggedly to the end even if they fail?
Not unless we think Jesus failed, that is, we think he stayed dead and only "lived on" in the memory of his noble example and good teachings. If he was raised back to physical life in this world, then he didn't fail. His campaign is not over.
He is empowering his campaign team members today to live honorably and to finish honorably, seeking God's honor more than they fear human shame. He is doing what dead religious teachers cannot do, radiating his power into his followers, changing them into different people by direct spiritual connection not only through his ideas and teachings. And he is going to do what dead religious teachers will not do--come back to take power and rule the world.
That's the part that people don't want to hear--that Jesus is the Spearhead of God's campaign to connect the whole world. That conflicts with their idea of power, goodness, and world peace, and some of them will try to shut us up. They realize that our Declaration is not some generic statement about a noble example in the past. It's a brazen claim about Jesus being alive today and returning in the future to unite the world on his terms.