Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king. (I Peter 2:17 NLT)
When some folks were asked on a blog what makes a person worthy of respect they listed qualities such as: integrity, trustworthiness, adhering to a code of honour, goodness, decency, being respectful of others. Most of us would agree with these statements about people we respect yet we often find ourselves behaving in ways that are opposite. Sometimes we believe that we have good reasons for not treating others with respect. We may believe that because of how some people behave they are not worthy of respect. Based on their decisions or actions we may judge politicians, church officials, and other leaders not worthy of respect. People do things that anger or frustrate us and we react with disrespect, and then justify our disrespect because we do not agree with their words or actions.
A person with good sense is respected; a treacherous person is headed for destruction. (Proverbs 13:15 NLT) Respect is showing high regard for authority, other people, self, property, and country. We show respect by treating others the way we would like them to treat us. We commit to understanding that all people have value as human beings regardless of their status or behaviour. Showing respect and being worthy of respect matters to God. The “Ten Commandments”, (Exodus 20:3-17) which were given to Moses by God, were instructions which, when followed, enabled God’s people to respect God and live honourably with each other. The first four commandments were given to help the people know how to respect and honour God, their creator. The following six were given to help them show respect to their parents and live together in peace and harmony with their neighbours.
People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed. (Proverbs 13:13 NLT)
It is God’s will that we be respectful of our parents, of others, and of others’ property. It is also God’s plan that we obey those He has placed in authority over us.
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. (1Timothy 2:1-4 NLT)
God asks us to pray for all people regardless of their position in life or their disrespect towards us. As we pray for those whose actions we cannot respect we are simply requesting that God’s will be done on earth for these people as it would be in Heaven. Today, let’s make it our purpose to pray for all those whose actions are harming us or others and ask God to work in their lives to fulfill His good purposes.
Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. (Philippians 1:27a NLT)
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