It was a wet afternoon a long time ago when my Son was in high school. I was walking down the school hallway following a meeting with the Principal. As I opened my umbrella to ward off the rain, I heard a woman’s voice pipe up, Hello? Excuse me. May I ask you a question? I turned to see one of the workers walking after me in the hallway. Are you Muthiganis mother? she inquired. Yes, I turned and answered her. Is there something wrong? My heart fretted. I had just left the Principal’s office where my Son sat busted for pulling a stunt in class. I was not bursting with parental pride. Now I feared he’d also misbehaved in the lunchroom. Oh no. Nothing is wrong at all! she declared. I just wanted to tell you how respectful your Son is. He never fails to flash a huge smile and thank me when I hand him his food or ask if I am having a good day. And he addresses me as ‘Ma’am’. Such a fine and respectful Son you’ve raised! To say her words thrilled this Mama’s heart would be an understatement. In fact, it was a little kiss from God that day when this thoughtful school employee pointed out a positive quality she saw in my Teenagers behavior. Respect is frequently lost in our society. In person and especially online-snark, spewing venom and sarcasm often rule. Talking down to someone or insulting one another is the new norm. Respect is often nowhere to be found. No longer does society at large use terms like Sir and Ma’am when speaking to elders and words of esteem are rare as well-you get into a bus and not one young person will offer you a seat . And having respect for authority seems to have gone out of style long ago.Today’s digital world has taken this to a new level with many opportunities to use our words online. It has become common place to sling opinions on a screen, whether on social media or while leaving a comment on a blog post. And unfortunately, sometimes these comments and thoughts aren’t tucked in an envelope of respect. They are laced with cynicism, mockery or disdain - you just need to check my Presidents and other leaders pages on social media to see the shocking and disrespectful comments written by perhaps young men/women who are his childrens agemates or perhaps younger. Today I read a verse that triggered this conversation: Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king. 1 Peter 2:17 (NLT) - it does not just say respect those in authority, like a police officer, a judge, the president or governor. It goes so far as to say that we are to respect everyone. Everyone. Does this mean the grumpy neighbour who constantly lets her dog run around your yard and occasionally use it as an outhouse? Yes. Does it include your combative relative who never speaks respectfully to you? Yes. What about the difficult person on that committee whose personality and behaviour gets on your very last nerve? Yep. That one, too. We can learn to speak respectfully no matter the situation. By drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit to temper our tongues and help us weigh our words, we can speak in a polite tone. This doesn’t mean we don’t speak the truth. It just means we verbalise it in an honourable way. We can reflect the love of Jesus when we engage in conversations with a calm, collected and civil tone. Then others might notice that our speech isn’t snappy, impolite or rude. Our language is respectful. Our words are honouring to those we are talking to and more importantly, to God. Father help me think before I speak, making sure my words are respectful; let my tone be tempered and my manner kind. I want to please You and honour others with my speech. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 10:05:48 +0000