What does it mean to be Respectful?

Recently I was watching one of my favorite shows which happens to be “Say Yes to the Dress.”  It’s a great show, right?!  Can you think of a better show than watching women try on their future wedding dresses and deciding which ones they are going to buy and wear on their wedding day.  Anyway, one of the comments that they make often is trying to be respectful of the budget that the brides have set forth.  This also reminded me of when people will use the saying trying to be respectful of people’s time.  This made me think about what I think being respectful is.  I think for a majority of time I considered being respectful as just being kind to one another.  However,  now I am starting to think of it as showing consideration and thought to the person that you are with.  

Respect is being cognisant of someone else’s feelings and their place in life.  The best example I can give of this is in regards to food.   Food is a big piece of our lives though, so that is why it serves as a great example.  I have had moments where I have friends who are on a strict diet for health and personal reasons.  Even though I wasn’t on the diet, I knew that I should be aware of their feelings and shouldn’t eat the food that may seem tempting to them in front of them.  Therefore, I was trying to be respectful of my friend’s feelings.  I know many people who have done this with their languages when they are around me.  They may try to hide their harsher words or swear words because they know that I try not to speak with swear words.  Similar to in “Say Yes to the Dress,” when the consultants are trying to work within the bride’s budget, they are being aware of the financial stability of the bride.  

There is also respect that one should have for the people who are in power or in authority.  This is even something that is mentioned in the Bible.  Romans 13:1 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”  The Lord knows who is in the government authority positions.  I am not saying that he agrees with what every single authority person is doing.  I am not saying that he believes that every authority is a good representation of God.  In fact, many of them fall incredibly short.  I do know that a lot of people who are not fans of many of the representatives in government currently.  However, part of respect is learning how to follow the laws while still being able to stay within our moral grounds and thoughts.  

There are examples of people who do this in the Bible.  For example, Daniel is known for not agreeing with the king of his time.  He didn’t agree with the food that the king wanted his soldiers and servants to eat, because Daniel disagreed with the cleanliness of the food.  Overall, it didn’t follow the morals that he and God had set for himself.  He simply told those who are in charge of him that the food they were requiring was not what Daniel wanted as part of his clean Jewish eating.  However, he never was mean or disrespectful.   Therefore, as long as he was still able to fulfill the duties the king and his authority figures set out, they agreed to let him try his clean eating and eating the food that was more morally fitting.  Daniel was able to do this, and he even succeeded more than the men who were eating the food that the king provided.  

The passage of where this is seen is in Daniel 1, and especially in verses 15 and 16, “At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.”  The Lord also would bless Daniel and the others with great knowledge of dreams and literature.  This would make it so Daniel had an even higher calling in the king’s government than his other workers.  

This also includes many of the others who are following the authority of their bosses or supervisors.  There are going to be times when we don’t want to always follow the bosses and supervisors that we have.  We may not always agree with their rules or with their policies.  I am not even saying that we have to.  However, there should be a certain amount of respect that we should give to those who are in charge of us.  We should all be able to approach our supervisors with a question yet acknowledge them taking the time to listen and hopefully change whatever is on our hearts.  

Being able in all situations to disagree with someone, but being able to speak these thoughts without arguing, or angering the other party is highly important for advancing the kingdom of God.  Every single day, besides just our bosses or those who are in authority over us, we will encounter those who are different and have differing perspectives.  I believe it is very important that we are able to speak our truth and our beliefs, especially when defending the Lord or our religious perspectives, but our other goal is to gain members of the body of Christ and that will only happen through kindness and respect.  This will happen in the moments where we show love and compassion to those who are different from us and will be willing to love and care for all that we see and meet.  Being able to do that will speak more volume than getting along and being kind to the ones who always agree with us.  

Overall, being respectful is being willing to think of others.  This is again being aware of more than what is going on in our lives and what we find as disrespectful or awful.  It is being willing to not argue on everything and to be caring and compassionate enough to think about how they must be feeling.  It is being willing and able to speak your thoughts that may be different from others with humility and love.  This is being able to be a valuable employee and citizen while also being able to follow your morale obligations.