R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Men, it's time we faced the truth. If we look at our everyday actions and thoughts, we don't respect the opposite gender as we should. Whether it be verbally making fun of someone, treating women as sex objects, or not treating them as equals, we just don't seem to really respect them.

Why? Why can we not respect for who they are: creations of God Almighty, created from man in God's image, important and EQUAL to men.

I chuckle now, because I know many of you will jump on the last three words of that sentence; "EQUAL to men". It's something that many people believe is untrue; that women are suppost to submit, which makes them weaker, lesser, and all around not as important as men. This is a FALSE assumption; the Bible clearly teaches submission, but does not teach inequality.

Men and women are created differently, for different tasks and purposes. Men are created and designed to be the more physical, rough, planning, logical ones, whereas women are created to be sensitive, nuturing, emotional, detailed. There is no shame in one or the other; it's the way GOD designed us to be. So, since there is no shame, say men are better than women is comparing apples and oranges.

Before moving on, I will state that I do believe the Bible teaches that men should be spiritual leaders - in the home and in the church. Again, this is not a matter of equality, but what we were created for and mandated to do by God.

What exactly IS respect? Is it the manner in which one esteems another? Or is it the acknowledgment of one's character? I would define respect as the showing and acknowledgment of someone's good character, their right actions, and their value as a human. Now, many people can only hit the mark on one of those three things (being a human), but that (as being made in God's image) still demands respect.

So, respect. How does one show it? Must it be earned? Can you lose it?

You show respect to another in the way that you treat them - do you treat them as valuable and important, worthwhile? Or do you treat them as inferior, distasteful, and not worth the time of day? Granted, that's the extreme, but I've made my point- each person you meet you ought to give respect to, as a fellow creation of God, made in his image. Do you treat them as YOU see them (the outside) or as God sees them (a beloved creation)? The implications of this follow with many actions, but be careful not to make it into a "to do list" that you must perform.

Respect is a different commodity in that it must be earned, but also freely given. You ought to, whoever you are, seek to be as much in the likeness of Christ as possible (therefore, seeking Him daily) and then the right actions and good character shall follow. At the same time, you are expected to give respect to others freely, based on the sole fact that they are made in God's image, just as you are. What a strange concept! It is contrary to what society and our culture tell us - that you must be valuable in our eyes to recieve respect - but it comes from a true understanding of God's love (that you must recieve before you can give- "He loved us first...").

Since respect is this strange commodity, then it is possible to lose it - on the basis of right actions and good character. A popular senator who has an affair, loses (and rightly so) respect when the fact is revealed. He has done a WRONG action, showing BAD character, and therefore, has lost respect. But he has not lost all respect - he still is loved by God, and therefore should be loved and respected (to a degree) by others. So, where some may have earned more respect than others, and some may have lost that same respect, no one should ever be without respect comepletely. In the Bible, we can easily see people who have earned different levels of respect (and many who have lost), but all are still human. Cain and Abel - earned and were given different amounts of respect, and rightly so - but, even still, God had mercy and loved Cain by not killing him immediately. By this example, we can see that it is possible to lose respect, but it is not possible to lose our humanity.

How does this applie to gentleman (or, as I shall now call them, "God's men")? It all seems so broad and general, and it is - it applies to all mankind!

In terms of ladies and God's men, we as God's men ought to show each lady that we meet (who, exactly, that is is covered in previous blog posts) respect. We ought to treat each of them as the utmost respect - the creation that is like us, and from us, and even part of us - THAT is how we are to treat them! As part of ourselves. In Ephesians 5, Paul says that husbands ought to their wives as Christ loved the church. Christ is the head of the church, but shows much compassion, love, tenderness, and mercy for his church. In the same way, we, as God's men, ought to show compassion, love, tenderness, and mercy towards others - ladies especially.

In societies and cultures past, the term "gentleman" applied only to the upper class - those who deserved and had earned respect from others. Let each one of us, as God's men, show the world what a man really is, and how he respects others.