Nov 09, 2018
Show proper respect to
everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king. 1Peter 2:17
Love and respect
changes lives more than pride and power.
The Bible doesn’t have much in the way of direct instruction
on marriage and parenting. Much of the
teaching on those subjects is drawn out from stories and results of people’s
lives. But what it does have recorded is
certainly deep and powerful!
Ephesians chapter 5 is one of those short, powerful
texts. While some dislike the wording
used, most people agree that the call to respect and to love is a proven
formula for success in relationships. Those
two ingredients are the foundational elements of every relationship: in
business, politics, families and especially in marriage.
Yet when it comes to most of those settings, we tend to see
more pride & power displayed over love & respect. For example:
-
The boss doesn’t to come off weak, so he asserts
power to drive forward the agenda.
-
The mom is tired from all the day’s activities,
and starts yelling to get the kids moving on chores.
-
The husband feels like his wife is always
negative, so his pride refuses to listen to her ideas.
-
The kids are wanting to have some autonomy, so
they rebel against mom & dad’s rules.
-
The worshipper sees everyone else doing whatever
they want on a Sunday, so they decide it’s time to sleep in and take a break.
-
In spite of making the wrong choice and committing
the sin, the violator will not apologize and seek to make amends.
We know that love & respect work better, but still
prefer the ways of pride & power.
Then, when things get worse, we start making accusations or
justifications instead of showing humility.
Peter knew ALL about this from his own life. He failed many times with Jesus when it came
to love & respect. Peter was the
first one to want to condemn people who didn’t join the bandwagon. He was ready to use a sword more than
love. His pride brought about the
scolding of Jesus at times, and caused the darkest moment after denying Jesus
three times. Peter learned the hard way
that pride & power look like the most expedient tools, but do a terrible job
of building relationships.
This is the same Peter that later calls for Christians to
live humble lives – using love & respect toward their neighbors and
leaders. It looks like Peter figured
something out.
Don’t wait decades to learn this lesson. Trust in Jesus, Paul & Peter’s
instructions – respond with Love & Respect instead of command &
control. Try using this Holiday season
as a test of the tools – and demonstrate real love & respect to everyone you
come in contact with. See if it improves
your relationships and changes your life.
You might just discover a far more peace-filled life than you have ever
had before!
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