Respect Not Earned

 May 1
 Daily Reading – 1 Samuel 21-24 / Luke 20:27-47

GOD SAID:

1 Samuel 24:6 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

     “Those kids have no respect for authority!” I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I have heard that statement made. Teachers have come to me in tears saying it. Older saints within the church have voiced their concern. If I’m honest, I’ve said it a time or two, or more. The answer I believe is two-fold. Respect needs to be earned, and respect must be taught. Sometimes the person claiming they’re not being respected, has not earned that respect. They instead are trying to demand respect based on the position they hold. That usually doesn’t work. However, I believe the biggest problem that we face today is, respect is not taught. Very few people model respect for any authority before our youth today. Not for the Police, the President, the Pastors, and often not even for God. Respect must be modeled and taught if we ever have a prayer it will someday be received.

    David showed great respect toward Saul in today’s passage. Saul has been hunting David down and trying to kill him. Saul has killed several others, just because they helped David. Saul has done nothing to gain David’s respect at all. Yet David shows him a great respect, that was not earned. WHY? Because David had respect for God, who placed Saul in the position of being his King. Even though Saul had not earned David’s respect, God had. Because of his God, David showed great restraint, and respect for whom God had placed over him.

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

  Do we really want the youth of today to show respect for authority at home, in the world, at church, for God? If we do, then we need to begin to model that respect before them. God is still on the throne. He, and His decisions are worthy of respect.

Are we modeling what we desire?

 

     
Living In His Word Ministries
    “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12