Fitting

Rom. 13:⁷ (NRSV) “Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due.”

Respect is impartial but honour is subjective. Respect is impartial meaning you really do not need to like a person to respect him or her. God wants us to regard our parents as weighty even though that might not be the case.

Imagine on a scale of one to one hundred, the marker for respect is set at seventy. And when your parents stand on the scale they weigh twenty. God is saying when you look at that scale, choose to see seventy.

A lady while dressing up in front of the mirror looks to her husband and asks, “Am I fat?” It is only a foolish man that will say, “I told you to slow down on the donuts but you did not listen and now you look like a donut!” A wise man would respond in this way, “Fat? I cannot see it. All I see is a beautiful woman.” This is what it actually means to regard as weighty – you choose to see beauty over fat. And just in case you are wondering how that woman will see the need to change and cut back on her eating, the truth is, she already knows that she is fat; so you do not need to rub it in. When you respond with wisdom, she will work harder to stay healthy, cut back on the junk food and the result will be weight loss.

The truth is you can respect someone you do not love but you really cannot honour someone you do not love. So, it all comes down to love. I know some people who do not like me but it is interesting how they openly express their respect for me. I really do not bother myself with people liking me or not, I just do what God has called me to do. By the time they see what God is doing and has done in my life, they will have no choice but to respect it. I pray in the Name of Jesus, that your life will be so awesome that the people who do not like you will have no choice but to respect you.

A woman came to Oral Roberts with a cheque of a million dollars. She told him that even though she did not like Oral or his ministry, God had compelled her to give him the money. Two things from this example – Oral does not need her to like him to receive and cash the cheque and the woman did not let the fact that she did not like Oral determine her obedience to God’s leading.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the wisdom to give respect to whom respect is due and honour to whom honour is due, in Jesus Name. Amen!