Thought of the Day !!

Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God. Show respect for the king.
                                                            1 Peter 2:17 (NLT)

I've heard before that respect is something that has to be earned.  I've heard that respect comes with "the job".  I've heard that I should respect my elders.  But what exactly does it mean to respect someone?

It means to give special regard to someone or place them in high esteem.  In my opinion this is a natural part of Christian love.  So should people have to earn my respect?  I imagine not if I'm trying to live a Christ-like life.

Sharing respect for everyone might also mean that we would treat them the way we'd like to be treated.  It means not looking down on others.  It means giving people the benefit of the doubt.  

Does this mean sometimes we might be disappointed because someone we respected let us down?  Of course it does.  But love does not come without a cost.  And we cannot control the actions of others...no matter how much we try.  Of course we could always look at it from another side.  Jesus showed us respect and we've let him down before.  But it doesn't stop him from loving us.

So show respect to everyone because it's the Christian thing to do and because it's exactly what Christ did for you.

In the love of Christ,
greg