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3. Respected
“If people respect you, respect them back, if they disrespect, you respect them back. They represent their ideology, you represent yours.” Mohammad Zeyara

We all have a need to be respected, to be taken seriously, to feel relevant, to be considered worthy, to be noticed, to be valued. Along with these is the need we all have to sense our own identities. Our identity is how we define who we are in the world. A way that this happens is in the way that others acknowledge and treat us. We have all heard stories of how people have used this power to discourage or belittle another person. As humanity, we also have the ability to empower others as we make them feel important and have good reason for being in our lives. In The Art of Civility, common respect for others is a key piece in being able to treat others with the worth and dignity they deserve.

The opposite of respect is contempt, which is a key feeling that is present in the midst of almost all relational struggles. Showing contempt to anyone is a deep insult and will often lead to deep feelings of frustration, unhappiness, hurt feelings, dismissal and even anger. The feeling of disrespect is often connected to a feeling of worth. As Christians, we start from a standpoint of our shared identity and worth in Christ.

Look at this piece of scripture from Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

As Christians our identity and worth was spoken for when Jesus came and gave up His life for ours. He showed us our worth in His sacrifice on the cross and gave us our identity in His resurrection from the grave. Romans 8:31 says: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Notice that Paul is saying that since we have been heard by God, understood by God and respected by God, than what person in this whole world could give us a greater feeling of worth or respect and, since Jesus has treated us all this way, than who do we have the right to be against?

Jesus said in Matthew 7:12: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” I am in no way saying that this is an easy thing to do in our everyday lives and I think Jesus meant it to be that way. If it was easy than we might be led to think we can do this on our own power apart from God, but since it is so difficult, we need a wisdom, strength and love that is greater than our own. It starts with a heart transformed by the Gospel and ends with that heart giving the love and respect of God away to others. We don’t want anyone to feel HURT, so we seek to Hear them, Understand them, Respect them and Trust them.

Points to Ponder:
1. Describe a time in your life when you felt respected for just being yourself.
2. What does it mean to you that “God is for you?”
3. What help do you need from God as you move toward respecting others in the world?