Day one:
Showing Respect
READ: 1 Chronicles 13
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. —Proverbs 14:27
In Myanmar (Burma), children are taught to give objects to their parents and elders with both hands. I live in nearby Singapore, and I know that in Asia it isn’t polite to use only one hand to give a business card to someone. And it’s extremely rude to toss it across the table to the recipient. To show respect, I should use both hands to give my business card to a person.
In 1 Chronicles 13, we see how important it is to show respect to God. David had good intentions when he decided to bring the ark back to Jerusalem. During the process, however, Uzzah touched the ark in an attempt to prevent it from falling off the cart. God struck him dead. David was stunned and upset by God’s anger. Why did the Lord respond so severely?
David came to realize that what he wanted to do for God had to be done with respect for Him and His specific instructions. God had commanded that the ark be carried by the sons of Kohath on poles, not on a cart, nor was anyone to touch it (Exodus 25:14-15; Numbers 3:30-31; 4:15).
What David learned is something we too must take to heart. Showing respect for God means learning what He wants us to do and then obeying Him completely. To please the Lord, we must do His work His way. — Albert Lee (taken from Our Daily Bread)
O help me, Lord, to show respect,
To always honor You;
And may I bring You highest praise
In everything I do. —Sper
We respect God when we obey God.
Day two:
Respect
READ: 1 Timothy 6:1-6
Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor. —1 Timothy 6:1
As a schoolteacher, my wife has noticed that behavior seems to be deteriorating with each successive class of students. Many children show little respect for older people.
First Timothy 6 reveals that disrespect is not unique to our generation. Paul, who ministered to a culture built on slavery, highlighted this concern. He wrote, “Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren” (v.2). Paul knew that slaves, whose welfare depended on their master’s goodwill, were capable of being disrespectful.
We may say that people need to show themselves worthy of respect before we can respect them. But respecting another person is much more about who we are than about who the other person is.
Paul gave the main reason believers should excel in respect: “So that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed” (v.1).
Sadly, the worst cases of disrespect are sometimes found among those who claim to follow Jesus. But when believers excel in all they do, God’s name is lifted up. All of us are to bring honor and glory to the Lord’s name.
Excelling in respect for others honors God. — Albert Lee (taken from Our Daily Bread)
O help me, Lord, to show respect,
To always honor You;
And may I bring You highest praise
In everything I do. -Sper
One who would be truly respected must first respect others.
Day three:
Respect
Reading: 1 Peter 2:13-15
How should we respond when we’re under the authority of a teacher of someone else you struggle to respect? Motivational speaker and Olympic swimming gold-medalist Josh Davis believes, “There is never any reason to be rude or abrasive to another human being.” Davis says, “I apple a biblical principle to help me: ‘Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shinning like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people’” (Philippians 2:14-15).
Scripture says respect should be given to:
- Governing authorities (your teachers!): “For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority – whether king as head of state, or the officials He has appointed” (1 Peter 2:13-14).
- Everyone: “Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters” (1 Peter 2:17).
- Christian leaders: “Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other” (1 Thess 5:12-13).
- Seekers: “If someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way” (1 Peter 3:15-16).
Today, consider how God would have you demonstrate greater respect to others.
– Roxanne Robbins (adapted from Our Daily Journey)
Day four:
Humility And Greatness
READ: Matthew 20:20-28
Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. —Matthew 20:26
As a 7-year-old, Richard Bernstein admired Jackie Robinson’s athletic ability and courage as the first African-American man to play Major League baseball in the modern era. A few years later, while working at a small-town golf course, Bernstein was astonished to find himself carrying the bag of his hero, Jackie Robinson. When rain postponed the game, Robinson held an umbrella over the two of them and shared his chocolate bar with the young caddy. Writing in The International Herald Tribune, Bernstein cited that humble act of kindness as a mark of greatness he has never forgotten.
True greatness is shown by humility, not pride. This was powerfully demonstrated and taught by Jesus Christ, who told His ambitious disciples: “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:26-28).
When God Himself walked on earth as a man, He washed feet, welcomed children, and willingly gave His life to deliver us from the self-centered tyranny of sin. His example gives credence to His command. — David C. McCasland (taken from Our Daily Bread)
True greatness does not lie with those
Who strive for worldly fame,
It lies instead with those who choose
To serve in Jesus’ name. —D. De Haan
We can do great things for the Lord if we are willing to do little things for others.
Day five:
It’s not all about you
Reading: Philippians 2:3-5
Prior to moving to East Africa, I lived in Washington, DC, just a few miles away from Walter Reed Hospital. This Is the treatment facility for the American soldiers who have been most severely wounded while serving in the Iraq war.
Three friends and I were invited to visit the Walter Reed on a semi-regular basis to offer encouragement to the injured men and women. Prior to entering patients’ rooms for the first time, a US Army chaplain briefed us on the extreme and grotesque war injuries we were about to see.
Will I get nauseous? I wondered. Will I faint? Silently I prayed for strength. As I did, I sensed the Holy Spirit’s warning that an outward reaction on my part would turn everyone’s attention to me instead of the injured soldiers. He instructed me to act in opposition to my self-absorbed and squeamish nature by thinking solely about the men and women we were there to minister rather than about myself.
By adhering to God’s exhortation, I experienced great joy as I interacted with the suffering soldiers and concentrated on their situation and needs.
In recent months, God has reiterated to me the importance of considering the needs of others. “IT’s not all about you,” He reminds me as I study His Word, as I live among the poor in Uganda, and as I correspond with friends and family back home in US.
It’s not easy to live out Titus 3:14, which says, “OUR people must learnt o do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.” That is why author and Bible teacher Beth Moore says we need to be intentional about being ‘others focused’. ‘We are going to be selfish unless we deliberately do something about it,” Moore says. “Satan wants to make us takers instead of givers.” – Roxanne Robbins (taken from Our Daily Journey)
Day six:
When love is difficult
Reading: 1 John 4:11-29
God commands us to love the people we find difficult. To do so, we need to exercise and strengthen the weak muscles of our ‘otherly affection.’ Sometimes God does this by supplying another challenging relationship just when we get one under the Spirit’s control.
How do we love difficult people? Romans 12:9 tells us: ‘Love must be sincere.’ God knew that commanding us to love others sincerely would force the issue of heart change in those of us who truly desire to obey and please Him.
While loving the people God places in our paths will never cease to be challenging, the key is in learning to draw from the resource of God’s own agapao, rather than our own small, selfish supply of natural phileo, or fondness. Agapao is many things we imagine as love, but two primary elements set it apart. First, agapao beings with the will. It’s volitional love. The beginning of true love is the willful decision to agree with God and to choose to love another person. Secondly, agapao love is based on best interests while phileo love is based on common interests.
Both types of love are biblical, but phileo often originates through preference and taste as in a friendship. Agapao is the more ‘expensive’ love because sacrifice is part of its nature. God’s directive to love our enemies involves agapao. The key is to draw from God’s own agapao, not from our own determination. Romans 5:5 says, “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
God’s chief goal is to deepen our relationship with Him. He knows that if we don’t need Him, we will never understand how sufficient and wonderful He is. Challenges like loving a difficult person forces us to ask Him for a fresh supply of His love. We have to pour out our own toxic and preferential affections so that our hearts can be filled with His affections. As we ask for our cup to overflow with agapao, the liquid, living love of God will not only surge through our own hearts, it will also splash on those around us. – Beth Moore (taken from Our Journey)
Day seven:
Living With Grace
READ: 1 Peter 5:5-11
Be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” —1 Peter 5:5
Kevin Rogers, pastor of a church in Canada, has likened the grace of God to an imaginary secretary who compels him to treat other people as God does. Rogers writes: “Grace is my secretary, but she won’t let me obey my Day-Timer. She lets the strangest people into my workspace to interrupt me. Somehow she lets calls get through that I would prefer to leave for a more convenient time. Doesn’t Grace know that I have an agenda? Some days I wish that Grace weren’t here. But Grace has an amazing way of covering my mistakes and turning the office into a holy place. Grace finds good in everything, even failures.”
By God’s grace—His unmerited love and favor—we have been forgiven in Christ. God tells us that instead of relating to others from a position of superiority, we must put others ahead of ourselves. We should wear the clothes of humility because He “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).
When “the God of all grace” (v.10) controls our lives, He can transform interruptions into opportunities, mistakes into successes, pride into humility, and suffering into strength. That’s the amazing power of God. That’s the evidence of His grace! — David C. McCasland (taken from Our Daily Bread)
When you know God’s grace, you’ll want to show God’s grace.
Reflection:
Through this week’s devotion, we learn that God commands us to honour and respect EVERYONE, even our enemies. More importantly, God does not state any pre-requisite or qualification for other to gain our respect. This means that not only do we have to honour and respect others, we must do so all the time, regardless of anything.
We can all start with an attitude of humility and meekness. Honouring and respecting others cannot take place if we possess a superior attitude. We should never possess a superior attitude as all of us fall short of God’s holiness. (taken from our sermon series book)
How can I change, to be more respectful to others? How can I adopt an attitude of humility and meekness?
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