“Respect is not automatically given; it must be earned. True respect originates not from what you profess, but what you actually do.”
Respect. It’s just a tiny little word that carries a lot of weight. We all want it, but in today’s world, it seems like it is a pretty tough commodity to come by. Respect, in this context, means to “hold in esteem or honor”. We want people to honor us automatically for our position in life, for the title we hold, or for the level of “success” we have attained. We throw the word around so much that we have forgotten that respect – genuine respect – doesn’t just happen overnight.
When I was in elementary school, there was a teacher in our school who had a very large paddle with holes drilled into it. The paddle hung on the wall right next to the chalkboard, so it was always visible to all of the students in the classroom. The teacher, a tiny little dude named Mr. Sizemore, called his paddle “Hercules”. Mr. Sizemore was not a pleasant fellow and you rarely saw him smile. The only times I can remember seeing anything close to a smile flicker across his face was when he pulled Hercules off the wall to put him into use, which seemed to be quite often. Mr. Sizemore was the kind of teacher the kids all loved to hate; while in the classroom, they tried very hard to please him through good behavior and regimented structure, yet outside the classroom, nobody spoke well of him. You see, nobody respected Mr. Sizemore; we just feared him.
Fast forward a few years, and I had another teacher, Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell had at one time been an attorney. He had served his country, fought in Vietnam, traveled across the globe, and was well-spoken, meticulous, and expected nothing less than perfection from his students. This middle-aged man had only been teaching for one year when he came to our school, and the age group he was teaching was less than… well, they were less than respectful. At first, Mr. Mitchell came off as a stern taskmaster, and many of the students called him names that were “less than acceptable” in a school environment. (I’m sure you know which words I mean.) However, what became obvious almost immediately was his passion for teaching, his passion for his students, and his genuine will to see each one of us succeed. When a student in his class was struggling, he paired that student with one of the high-achieving students. When we had questions, he would stop whatever was on his agenda, look each of us in the eye, and explain the concept until every one of us was comfortable with it. And even as an authority figure, this person we saw as a huge “success” in life, he was not afraid to share his failures with us in order that we might learn from his mistakes. He coached us, he parented us, and he coaxed the best out of each one of his students. He could have gone out of his way to threaten or intimidate through his authoritative air, but he chose instead to nurture us and help us grow as individuals. And we all respected – even loved – him for it.
The bottom line is this: If we are going to earn respect, we have to show respect. We have to respect a person for who they are, not who we want them to be. And as people, we need to strive to show patience, kindness, and humility. ”Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor” (Proverbs 18:12). God has also told us through His Word that in order to be first, we must be willing to be last; If we want to grow in respect, the best way to do that is to serve others. Don’t ask someone else to do for you what you are not willing to do for someone else. Be humble. Set an example.
Live life in such a way that what you do and what you say line up, and I guarantee that respect will be yours!
Catch you on the flip side!
Ang
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