R ~ E ~ S ~ P ~ E ~ C ~ T

Respect, it's not such a hard thing to earn for the average person. You meet someone you give them the benefit of the doubt that they are a normal and decent human being and then through a short amount of time you form a level of respect. This level can start out small and insignificant, basically just a level of human decency, and as it grows it becomes higher.

The problem with respect is that in one instant it can be lost. You lie once and get caught, you break something, or you miss manage money, anything can happen and the respect you have earned from a person can be seen flying a mile a minute out the window. I look at it kind of like my dog. When she gets off her leash and is running around the house from the front yard to the back over and over again barking and laughing at my husband and I, it is impossible to know if and when we can catch her. Basically it boils down to her being caught when she wants to be. We don't know when she is going to calm down and return to the safety of our home. The harder we chase her the faster and farther she runs.

Respect in a sense is like this. Once you have a human moment (long or short moment) and make a mistake and see the respect leave you cannot chase after it. The harder you try and earn it the more evasive it becomes. Only when we relax and be who we are, love how we know how to love, and give space and honesty to the person we are attempting to gain respect from do we finally prove that we deserve to be RESPECTED.

Trust and respect are a gift from someone. God has instilled in us the ability to love and make decisions out of free will. Because we are human and do things to lose respect, should be not realize that we are human in trying to respect someone who has harmed us?

We may think because we love God and he is our best friend that things are hunky dorry however Paul is my role model at this time. He writes:

What anyone else dares to boast about am speaking as a fool I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.

I pray thaI i never have to deal with what he went through. My spirit feels as though I have at times. Today is a new day with new ideas and new challenges. Bring it on God because right now only you can help me survive! As long as you know what is coming I'm okay with it.