Honor and Respect

God asks us to honor and respect Him. He also asks us to honor and respect one another. In a marriage, honor and respect preserve the union. Otherwise the ups and downs of life would tear marriages apart. God sees His people as His bride and asks for honor and respect from her as well.

What is remarkable is that God also honors us, and respects us. We are not respected for our reputation, for God does not need someone else to speak about us to Him. He knows us. God carries the knowledge of us around with Him. He knows our history, and He knows our potential. God sees the experience we have, both good and bad. In order to see our future potential God knows what we must do to bring out the best in our own lives.

God believes in us, for He knows His investment in us. God does not build with wood, hay, or stubble; God builds people with good materials. He knows all that our life is made up of and looks towards our future with expectations for good.
Wow, what a God! He is not ignorant of our short-comings nor our failures, yet He chooses to look forward to sharing great things with us.

If this is God’s respect of and honor towards us, then what should ours be towards each other? We should believe for our brother to do the great things he has done in the past, and grow in confidence that God will perfect His work in him. Those failings that make up our brother’s history with us should be seen as his stepping stones and not our stumbling blocks. In a marriage a man and woman know each other far better than anyone else could know either one of them. They should encourage each other to press forward into the highest calling of God, not remembering past disappointments but praying for future victories.

I believe that God wants us to be willing to see the future as a good place for our brothers and sisters. Then we will think upon and even envision them in their destiny. And that is how God thinks about us. Amen.