Respect

“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”  1 Peter 2:15-17

 

Aretha Franklin said she had to have a little respect or “when you come home you might find that I’m gone.”  I don’t want to dive into the rest of the lyrics but it’s interesting how people just want a little respect.  I remember being taught as a young boy to respect my neighbors, my teachers and really all adults that had authority over me.  Of course the desire of any parent is for this training to translate into a way of life as an adult.

 

God’s standard is that we value all people regardless of who they are.  God wants us to honor the entire circle of any relationship we might have and wants us to respect the dignity of every person. I watched news the other day and was broken hearted as a college student who disagreed with a decision made by a professor shouted and degraded this man in public because it was her “right” to be heard.  It always seems to come to that, “My rights and forget what God says in His Word.”  For all our screaming and barbed comments we fail to show any hint of intelligence and simply make ourselves appear foolish.

 

Before we became Christians we had our own do-it-yourself-kit about what is valuable and who is actually worthy of our respect. We had our standards and naturally they were very low. Once we became Christians our standards changed. Our attitude is different. Our outlook is different. We are a new creation and we no longer think as we once thought (Rom. 12:1-2) “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

 

What value do you put on people? A child of God should see in every person a soul for whom Christ died. They may be red, yellow, black or white. They may have a different opinion that you do and get on your last nerve.  They may be dirty or clean yet Christ died for them. Christ died for each soul of every person everywhere in the world.

 

More than 240,000 people, including 12,000 children, have been killed in Syria’s conflict which broke out in March 2011 and yet those numbers roll off us like water. Our estimation of human life has become very cheap. Each person killed has a family. Each one will need a funeral and a casket. We become hardened to these reports and hearing them means very little to us. We have become so callused that the loss of life becomes common place.  We only have room in our hearts for our wife, husband or child – only then would those stats mean something to us.

 

Have you ever noticed that everyone who undergoes surgery has the “best” surgeon in the hospital? Who told them that? The nurse. Do you think that she would say “He is not much of a surgeon but I am sure he will do his best?  When my son graduated from medical school he was given the privilege of practicing medicine.  Yes, I’ve heard the jokes about doctors practicing and how when it comes to your husband, wife or child you would just as soon have them practice on someone else.  What I’m trying to say is that human life becomes valuable if we love the person. God, however, wants us to honor all men.

 

God loved the world (Jn. 3:16). Christ died for all (2 Cor. 5:14,15; Heb 2:9). If God puts this value on all human beings shouldn’t we as Christians also put the proper value on every human being on earth? Do you have the right estimation of the value of the worth of a human being?  If so, then let’s learn to show some respect.