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Respect One Another

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:17 (NLT)

Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.

Respect is one of the most important attributes for a society to maintain, yet it is hard to define. Simply put, respect is the acknowledgement that someone has value. Respect can also be defined treating people the way they want to be treated.

RELIEF: Respect Every Life In Every Family.

We should live a life worthy of respect. Let us see 1 Thess 4:11, 12(NLT)

¹¹ Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.

¹² Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

1 Timothy 3:2, 3

² Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

³ not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

So we should strive to be people who are respectable.

Positions, riches, titles, age, experience don’t guarantee respect. Why? Because respect is something we earn.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

R. Respect yourself and those around you.

E. Exceed the expectations of others.

S. Stand firm on your convictions and principles.

P. Possess a desire to learn and grow.

E. Earn the trust of others.

C. Contribute to the lives of others.

T. Take responsibility for yourself.

            1. Respect yourself and those around you.

First, we should learn to respect or like ourselves, then only can we love our neighbor.

A faulty self-esteem will lead to a faulty relationship. Therefore we should have a Christ centric esteem of ourselves, in other words we should value ourselves the way Christ values us. Rom 12:3

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

We should value others the way Christ values others. The golden rule. Matt 7:12

¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Peter’s mantra: 1 Pet 2:17; Respect everyone.

2. Exceed the expectations of others.

Col 3:23, 24

²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Let us learn to give more than we receive. Acts 20:35 (NLT)

³⁵ And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

 

Biblical examples,

Rebecca: Gen 24:18-22

Macedonian Church: 2 Cor 8:3-5

Publius and people of Malta: Acts 28:1-10 (Kidney Federation father Davis village)

How can we exceed the expectation of others?

              - Set high personal standards.

              - Know the expectations of others.

              - Fulfill those expectations and then some more.

3. Stand firm on your convictions and principles. Gal 6:9

⁹ So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Remember the end won’t justify the means. Baba Ram Rahim

Compromise corrupts our character and ultimately, we will miss God’s promises in our life. Joseph stood for his convictions and received what God had for him. Psalm 105:16-19

Our trials are opportunities to maintain integrity.

Acts 10:38

³⁸ And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Jesus went around doing good in spite of Peoples ungratefulness and rudeness.

4. Possess a desire to learn and grow. Pro 18:15 (NLT)

Intelligent people are always ready to learn.
    Their ears are open for knowledge.

We should become a lifelong learner. Let us grow up and not just grow old. Pro 9:9 (NLT)

Instruct the wise,
    and they will be even wiser.
Teach the righteous,
    and they will learn even more.

5. Earn the trust of others. Matt 5:37

³⁷ Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

People won’t respect you if they can’t trust you.

How can we earn the trust of others?

• By being real or authentic. Don’t put a mask and try to be someone else.

Be honest about your strengths and weakness, in other words be yourself.

Then you will have nothing to prove, hide, or to lose.

• Be being confidential. Don’t feel like, that you have to tell everyone, everything.

Use some self-control and common sense. Learn to figure out what things you can share openly and what things you should keep to yourself. No body trusts or respects a blabber mouth.

• By being reliable. We need to be on time, we need to walk our talk, we need to finish what we start.

When we are reliable over a time we will learn earn trust.

6. Contribute to the lives of others. 1 Thess 5:11 (NLT)

¹¹ So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Paul is talking about giving people a boost. Encouraging them and letting them know that you believe in them and see value in them.

How can we contribute to the lives of others?

• Just a simple smile can change the outlook of someone else’s life. Smile connects and reduces miles

• 1 Pet 4:10, 11 ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

• Eph 4:16; Each part should contribute for overall growth.

Let us help everyone around us to grow.

7. Take responsibility for yourself. Pro 28:13

¹³ Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

In spite of being committed to integrity there may still be times that we act out of character, times that we mess up. There may be times that we act in a way that is inconsistent with the way that we normally act and in a way that is not in keeping with our beliefs and values. When that happens we should not try to deny or justify it. Lets not fix the blame on others, instead what we need to do is to take responsibility and own it up. James 5:16 Owning up brings healing.

Num 5: 6, 7

⁶ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people—men or women—betray the Lord by doing wrong to another person, they are guilty. ⁷ They must confess their sin and make full restitution for what they have done, adding an additional 20 percent and returning it to the person who was wronged.

What we do or not do affects our reputation and also the reputation of Christ and His body.