Finding Honor (Proverbs 12:9)

In this life there are so many different people trying to make themselves bigger than what they really are.

"Better is he who is lightly esteemed but works for his own support, than he who assumes honor for himself and lacks bread." Proverbs 12:9, Amplified

Now if you are reading from the New King James version of the Bible, you will have a slightly different translation in the first half of the verse. It reads, "Better is the one who is slighted yet has a servant..." This does not make a difference in translation of the verse, for the idea is still there. To be lightly esteemed is to lightly honored. If one is due honor and not receive that honor is slighted. Or it could be someone in that place in life that does not receive very much honor.

To work for one's own support and having a servant may seem like polar opposites. However if we look at it a little differently we will find they are not so far apart. Remember, I stated that the idea was still the same. The one who works for his own support and the one with a servant have the same thing in common; they both have what they need to live. Though the one who works for his own support may not have a servant, he is not going hungry, just as the one with the servant is not going hungry.

Both these men are better than the one who honors himself and is lacking bread. There are those out there who would rather receive that pat on the back than bread in their bellies. "...honor is not fitting for a fool." (Proverbs 26:1b, NKJV) If honor is due, then honor will find you.