Respect

• God is worthy of our respect (Exodus 3: 5)-But Aaron and Moses persisted. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they declared. “So let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t, he will kill us with a plague or with the sword.”

The Creator is worthy of our respect, because He is God.  He has taken out the time to communicate the truth to His Creation.  He deserves to be respected by man.  If we do not respect God, our lives will be shortened.  We can expect to see plagues over our lives.  Many times we will find that those who do not respect God are killed.  We can see how man kills man whenever they are disrespected, or if someone crosses the line.  So, how much more can we expect a shortened life if we do not respect God the Father?

• Our parents are worthy of respect (Leviticus 19: 3)-“Each of you must show great respect for your mother and your father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest, I am the LORD your God. 

Our parents are the second authority over our lives here on earth.  They are the guardians of our lives here on earth and are our first teachers before we start school.  The LORD commands this.  He also commands His Children to observe the Sabbath days of rest.  This is the seventh day of the week.  The reason He commands us to rest on the seventh day is because even He/The Creator rested on the seventh day of when the earth and man was created.  He commands rest because there is a time for everything.  So, He tells us to greatly respect our parents with the promise of long life.  This is one of the 10 commandments.

• Those in authority should have our respect (1 Samuel 24: 1-6)-1 Samuel 24:1 (NLT) After Saul returned from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David had gone into the wilderness of En-gedi.  1 Samuel 24:2 (NLT) So Saul chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel and went to search for David and his men near the rocks of the wild goats.  1 Samuel 24:3 (NLT) At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave!  1 Samuel 24:4 (NLT) “Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.  1 Samuel 24:5 (NLT) But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe.  1 Samuel 24:6 (NLT) He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.”

The LORD established the government to rule over the people.  The reason He did this is because He knew that not all people would choose to believe in Him, or submit to Him.  He established government for those who choose not to believe in HIm, or keep His commands.  They must submit to the government and the laws set in place by those in authority.  So the government should be respected by all.

• Husbands and wives should respect each other (Ephesians 5: 33)-So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

The covenant between a Christian man and a woman is holy.  This type of relationship compares to the relationship between God and His Children.  Therefore, The husband should respect his wife, and the wife should likewise respect her husband.  Nobody likes to feel disrespected.

• Those in leadership should have respectful children (1 Timothy 3: 4)-He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him.

Church leaders should have respectful children.  Their children should have a healthy fear of the LORD as well as their parents, since the LORD commanded it to be this way.  The same respect we have for God, we should also have for our parents.  And we Church leaders should manage our families well, so as not to give way for the enemy to destroy or taint our children or families.

• Show respect to all people (1 Peter 2: 17)-Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.

The LORD commands His Children to show respect to all people.  This includes parents, government, teachers, families, and kings/rulers.  This is very important to God's kingdom because it shows respect for God Himself.

We hope this brief study is helpful to your understanding of respect first for God the Father, as well as parents, government, kings, rulers, and others in authority.  May the LORD continue to bless your lives richly, and protect and be with you today and always.