SHOW OTHERS LOVE AND RESPECT

Proclamation:

"Show proper respect to everyone; Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."  1 Peter 2:17 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle Peter under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Peter told the believers that they were the chosen people of God, (1 Peter 2:10) and their behavior should reflect that.  They were to live in a Christ-like manner, even though they lived among the pagans. (1 Peter 2:12 and 2:15)  They were to submit to the proper authorities and obey the laws of the land. (1 Peter 2:13-14)  He also told them to show the proper respect to everyone, to love their fellow man, and to obey God.  

Application:
Jesus, The Christ, taught us that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, and Luke 10:27)  Jesus also taught us that we should love our enemies. (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, and Luke 6:35)  Under the divine inspiration of The Holy Spirit of God, Peter said that we should love and respect everyone.  We are to respect them but not imitate them.  We are to do our best to imitate Christ.  This is only possible because as believers we have The Holy Spirit of God within us and we exhibit the fruit of The Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)   Unfortunately, most people do not behave like this, so we are to be living examples of Christ-like behavior to a non-believing world for them to see Christ in us. (Matthew 5:16)  We are the only "Bible" that some people will ever "read", and our actions will speak louder than our words, especially if the two of them are not consistent and in agreement.  We are to obey the laws of man, except when the conflict with The Word of God, then we are to obey God. (Acts 5:28-29)

Show Others Love And Respect

"Show proper respect to everyone; Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."  1 Peter 2:17 (NIV)

The Apostle Peter told the believers that they were the chosen people of God, (1 Peter 2:10), and their behavior should reflect that.  They were to live in a Christ-like manner, even though they lived among the pagans. (1 Peter 2:12 and 2:15)  They were to submit to the proper authorities and obey the laws of the land. (1 Peter 2:13-14)  He also told them to show the proper respect to everyone, to love their fellow man, and to obey God.  

Jesus, The Christ, taught us that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, and Luke 10:27)  Jesus also taught us that we should love our enemies. (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, and Luke 6:35)  Under the divine inspiration of The Holy Spirit of God, Peter said that we should respect everyone.  This means that as believers, we are to love and respect everyone.  This is only possible if we have The Holy Spirit of God within us and we exhibit the fruit of The Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)  Unfortunately, most people do not behave like this, so we are to be living examples of Christ-like behavior. (Matthew 5:16)  We are the only "Bible" that some people will ever "read", and our actions will speak louder than our words, especially if the two of them are not consistent and in agreement.

Respect The Man Of God, Respect His Position

"So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men.  This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. 'Man of God,' he begged, 'please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants!  See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life  The Angel of The LORD said to Elijah, 'Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.'  So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king."  2 Kings 1:13-15 (NIV)  (Read 1:1-18)

After the king fell through some lattice work and injured himself, he wanted to know if he was going to recover from his injuries.  He sent a messenger to go inquire to an idol god, but the prophet Elijah stopped the messenger and told him that the king would die.  Upon learning that Elijah had stopped his messenger, the king sent a captain with fifty men to bring Elijah to him.  When he reached Elijah, the captain ordered Elijah to come down from the hill and come with them to see the king.  Elijah called down fire from heaven and it consumed the captain and all fifty men.  The king sent a second captain and another fifty men, and the same thing happened to them.  The third captain humbly approached Elijah, bowed down before him and asked Elijah to spare his life and the lives of his men.  Then The Angel of The LORD told Elijah to go with the third captain and he went with him.

How we approach someone, what we say, and how we say it can determine the kind of response we will receive.  We need to be very careful in the way that we approach, and how we speak to God, and the man of God.  We may not like the person but we need to always respect who he represents.  Pastors are referred to as the angel of the church.  (Revelation 2:1, 2:8, 2:12, 2:18, 3:1, 3:7, & 3:14)  Even when King Saul was trying to kill him, David still respected Saul and would not harm him, even when he had to opportunity.  (1 Samuel 24:1-11)  The Bible says touch not My anointed, and do My prophets no harm.  (1 Chronicles 16:22 & Psalms 105:15)  You may not like all preachers, but be careful how you approach them, what you say to them, and what you say about them.  You do not want to harm them or harm their reputation.  Respect the man of God, and respect The God that he represents.

Let Us Do Better At Giving God Glory Honor And Respect

"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due Me? If I am a master, where is the respect due Me?" says The Lord Almighty." Malachi 1:6 (NIV)

The prophet Malachi was chastising the priests for not giving God their bests during their sacrifices. They were sacrificing wounded, diseased, and crippled animals upon the altar instead of animals without spot or blemish. Malachi told them that God was not pleased with them.

The prophet was directing these comments and questions to the priests. However, they also can be applied to us today. We do not show God the honor and respect that is due to Him. We don't give God our best. We don't keep His commandments. We don't follow His word in our daily lives. We don't read and study His word daily as we should. We don't pray and thank Him enough. We don't or talk like He is in our hearts. We don't tell others about Him or what He has done for us. We don't act like everyday is a day of thanksgiving and not just worship time on Sunday. We say that we love Him, let us try to let our actions match our words more with each passing day.