So, our Honor Code is a statement of the ideal CCA student, written down to be constant and unchanging.  All well and good—but what exactly are we supposed to do with it?  Writing it down or even reciting it doesn’t make us more honorable—it might even turn us into hypocrites if we say it, but don’t actually live it out.  So, what’s the use?

The apostle James provides a helpful analogy when he describes the function of the divine law as a mirror.  This is what he writes:

“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

Now, to be sure, the CCA Honor Code is not the same as God’s Word—but its principles are drawn from it, and it too functions like a mirror.  Just looking into a mirror doesn’t change your appearance; it reveals it—and it is up to you, then, whether you act on what you see.

So, let me encourage you: Don’t just recite the Honor Code—use it.  At the end of the day, ask yourself, was I honest and upright and diligent and dutiful and joyful today?  That by itself won’t make you more honorable…but it’s a good place to start.

Have a wonderful day.