Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (Romans 13:7 NIV)

I had an opportunity to speak at an event called Heal Our Patriots, which was sponsored by Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse. The experience was unforgettable. More than seventeen hundred couples attended. These were people who served our country. Many of them had been wounded in battle, some severely. Some were struggling with PTSD. But they made the effort to attend this couple’s conference. They were looking for hope and encouragement from God’s Word. It was an amazing honor to speak to them. The best part for me came when I gave an invitation for people to come to Christ. Many of the attendees walked forward and gave their lives to the Lord. The memories of it still bring me joy. It was an honor to serve those who have served our country.

I had the privilege of honoring our service members then, and I have the privilege of honoring them today. The members of our military are special people. They have the courage and dedication to put their lives on the line for us. I think of Private First Class Ross McGinnis, who was perched in the gunner’s hatch of a Humvee when a grenade whizzed past him into the truck that was carrying him and four of his fellow soldiers. In a split second, McGinnis did the unthinkable. He shouted a warning to the other soldiers and threw himself on the grenade. He absorbed its full impact and died. But the four other soldiers in that truck survived, thanks to the young man’s amazing courage. That’s the character of a soldier. That’s the character of a veteran. And that’s who we honor today.

We can celebrate the veterans in our community by showing up to a parade or a gathering held in their honor and cheering as loudly as we would for our favorite team. We can honor them with a handshake and a sincere “Thank you for your sacrifice and service.” We can pay our respect to those who have died by walking through a cemetery and stopping at the graves marked with flags. We can read the names on the markers and think about what those men and women did so that we may have our freedom.

We can commemorate Veterans Day by praying for military families. For the Gold Star families who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. For the countless others who live in uncertainty while their loved ones are deployed. We can ask God to make His presence known in their lives in unmistakable ways.

And we can praise Jesus, who makes our spiritual freedom possible. “But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:22 NLT). Ephesians 1:7 says that God “is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins” (NLT). Jesus paid the ultimate price—His death on the cross—so we can be eternally free.

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