Daily Devotional #1,495

Respect. That’s a word that has taken a beating in these times. There was a time when people in general were pretty respectful of others. But today everybody is pretty much fair game for anything. And so often those who falter in respecting others are the first to demand respect from everyone else. We are to respect each other, but the problem is that those who feel most that they are not being respected…often don’t realize how little respect they show to others. Part of that comes from a lack of empathy for other people. We take our feelings, experiences and even opinions and expect others to respect us without an understanding that what we do and say just might be bringing hurt to someone else. The question then is how much do we bend to others? Well, for the followers of Jesus, we were given a special commandment by Christ himself just before he went to the cross to die for our sins. He said “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35). He commanded that we look at his love, humility, sacrifice and forgiveness…and then show that o each other. It isn’t easy…because if it was, everyone would be doing it! So today, make an effort to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry. And just maybe God will use you to bring peace to where you hear hurt, anger, distrust and discord.

Here’s our Bible verse for today…

1 Peter 2:17 NLT Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God and respect the king.

Remember I’m praying for you,
PJ