Romans 12:9-10 (NIV) 9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Titus 3:1-2 (NIV) 1Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
I Peter 2:15-17 (NIV) 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
Respect is a type of oil that makes the machinery of our society work more smoothly - life together is improved when we show respect to one another. And giving respect feeds our own soul. Respect is one of those gifts that comes back to bless the giver. When we give respect, we nurture self-respect in our own soul.
Respect does have a bad reputation in the minds of many people today. For some people respect is a kind of hypocrisy, saying nice words and covering up our real feelings. Yet real respect is not a cover up. Real respect grows out of our real convictions. And when we fail to show respect we are revealing what our real convictions are.
Traditionally, real respect rests on two pillars of conviction. One is the conviction that we, and all people, are created in the image of God. The second pillar is the judgment of God that all people are worth the life and death of God’s Son Jesus Christ. Jesus revealed and spoke of God’s value on human life. With one stroke, Jesus hung an infinitely high price tag on each person in a time when many were devalued commodities in a surplus market. In the Gentile and Hebrew world it was assumed that you showed respect only to those who deserved it, to people of power or position or wealth. Slaves and ordinary people did not expect respect. This was a new thing that the early Christians were being asked to do for the sake of the Lord. Honor all people. The words were revolutionary.
The word for Honor also means to show respect, literally to treasure, to value. It can also be translated to esteem, or to prize. And in this context it means to show respect and to acknowledge the worth of people who oppose you and disagree with you. It means to show respect to people who do not respect us one bit, people who oppose us and who are problems for us. Honor all people. The words were revolutionary.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope July 18, 1999
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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