There’s a lot of disrespect going around these days.
We all know this and many of us have participated in it one way or another.
Instead of accusations and finger pointing, there needs to be a shift. We need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and think about the amount of respect we dispense upon ourselves. If we are too caught up in worldly matters and full plates, how can we expect any kind of dignity towards us from others when we can’t slow down enough to give it back?
Let us stop and not think about the state of affairs in this world for a moment. We need to check our internal selves. How are we doing physically and spiritually?
Are we going and going and too exhausted to actually care about others? Do we cram home and work and whatever else we are doing with our time into a jam packed schedule that we are too exhausted to actually consider our faith or others? Maybe we are volunteering constantly and so focused on others that we aren’t resting. There is a balancing act we must be careful to adjust. We don’t want to exhaust ourselves so much that our spiritual life is depleted or neglected.
Is our faith being affected? Our spiritual lives must come before our physical lives. If we aren’t putting God first and relying on His faithfulness and perfect will, how are we going to make it through any of our over-extended living? If we aren’t searching Him out and showing Him the respect the Creator is due, how are we ever to expect to champion decency towards others?
We need to stand in opposition to our own internal bickering of spirit and the comparison trap among our brothers and sisters by opposing rivalry and conceit. We need to stand in unison with the Lord and battle against our need to over compensate and attack those who have hostile thoughts to our own. We must learn to rest and focus on things from above.
Philippians 2:3 ESV
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
We get over the disrespect when we remember that our faith comes first. We need to humble ourselves to the point that we can recognize when our plates are over extended and our spirits are weakened.
I stress this: the Lord always sees us through. He does. Despite our stubbornness and the faithlessness of mankind, His perfect will is never faltering.
1 John 3:1-2 ESV
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
We are His children. It is time that we all act like it. We need to show respect to ourselves by creating a space for spiritual care and rest. As we do so, we pay that care forward by our attitudes and words towards others. We cannot continue to be in the place that the world has dictated for us. We are not of it and should not fall prey to it. Be diligent and intentional in your Christian living.
My first attempt at a comment seems to have been swallowed by the ether…
The world is not my worry;
the clown parade goes by,
and it may pause or hurry,
but still, I’m going to die
sooner than I might prefer,
in a way that seems unfair;
there’s no-one that can defer
my fate, and do they care?
But I was born a gentleman,
civility’s worn upon my sleeve,
and the worst of times is when
I must yet believe
that well or ill, it’s all the same
and cricket’s how we play the game.
Even as a retired person I can jam pack my day and mind with so much there’s little space for my Spiritual life to grow. I so needed the challenge to live as God’s child! Focusing on that will change me on the inside and out! Thanks Maryann!
Sorry I’m not sure whether you received my previous comment, I also noticed that there were a couple of errors so am re-sending.
Hello Maryanne,
I am your FMF neighbour (No. 23). I love your Gravatar intro and the message of this post. It’s great that you are not afraid to say things as they are, even if they may be unpalatable. So often we Christians only want to serve and receive spiritual fluff and feel-good messages.
I particularly liked your concluding para. We indeed need to respect ourselves, respect our fellow-members in the Body of Christ, and respect the position we’ve been given as salt and light in this earth.
Thank you for sharing your uncompromising message. May the Lord open more doors for you to speak into his people’s lives.
Have a blessed weekend! 🙂
Hello Maryanne,
I am your FMF neighbour (No. 23). I love your Gravatar intro and the message of this post. It’s great that you are not afraid to say things as they are, even if they may be unpalatable. So often we Christians only want to serve and receive spiritual fluff and feel-good messages.
I particularly liked your concluding para. We indeed need to respect ourselves, expect our fellow-members in the Body of Christ, and expect the position we’ve been given as salt and light in this earth.
Thank you for sharing your uncompromising message. May the Lord open more doors for you to speak into his people’s lives.
Have a blessed weekend! 🙂
Thank you. I was actually thinking about that “fluff” earlier. I use to write like that just for the sake of writing. God convicted me to be more thoughtful this year.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
You are welcome Maryann. Keep up the good work. 😃
Good reminder that we need to set boundaries so that we don’t overload ourselves in these busy times – thank you
Love this!! So applicable to our lives. We are His children, so let’s live like it. I loved the words you used, respect, diligent, and intentional. It doesn’t just happen, it’s not our natural state. We have to rest in the Lord and let the Holy Spirit do it through us. Thanks for sharing.