My brother, my sister, I don’t know about you but I feel more and more angry when I hear people lacking so much respect for our Lord and Saviour: when someone has what they want, Jesus is his/her King; when things are not to his/her taste, Jesus becomes the bad guy! Christians, let’s wake up… Jesus is not and will never be responsible for any problem you are going through… Satan is! Besides, Jesus gave His life for us, He redeemed us from condemnation. No wonder so many believers’ lives are not changing and getting worse: “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me. “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you” (Numbers 14:27-28).
The Bible tells us this: “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). My friend, God hears whatever you grumble about Him in your heart or through your mouth. And the truth is, because we lack reverence to Jesus, it is reflected in our attitudes in the church and with others. Today, how many people go to church, yet they are literally rude and impolite. My friend, it is true that we live in a very rude world where courtesy isn’t so common anymore: through sarcastic dramas, the society teaches us to target those in authority, those in leadership, those who should be respected if for no other reason than because of their position. And sadly enough, such sarcasm has entered the church.
Also, the Bible makes it very clear that respect is one of those values that is necessary for life. The Bible is very specific about this. We find that we are to respect parents, people in authority, and church leadership. The Scriptures go on to instruct wives to respect and show reverence for their husbands and husbands are to respect and show reverence for their wives. And if we think that someone doesn’t fit the above categories, the Lord tells us that we should respect and honor all men anyway: “Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17).
In a world that’s full of rudeness and disrespect, we, as Christians, should show respect to others in a practical way by being understanding not demanding, loving not criticizing, gentle not judgmental, respecting not rejecting, truthful not dodging. There is no excuse for rude and disrespectful behaviour in the life of a believer. We have a responsibility to represent Christ in this fallen world. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.