November 7
Respect to the Unreasonable
1 Peter 2:18-19

  1. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
  2. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

It takes the Spirit of God within us to treat people the way the Lord wants us to.  Here he says for servants to be subject or submissive to their masters with all fear or respect.  Not only to those who treat you well and are good and gentle (The Amplified Bible says, "kind, considerate and reasonable"), but also to those who are perverse.

God sees it when we are treated wrong and yet we do not retaliate or behave wrongfully in return.  God sees it when people, especially those in authority over us, treat us bad and we endure it well and treat them with respect in return.  The world says you need to "stick up for yourself" and defend yourself and rebel in those situations.  But the Lord says to treat those people with respect and He takes notice of it and is thankful.

It takes the Spirit of God and the fruit of the Spirit within us to do this and we can do it because He dwells within us!

 

Confession:

I will treat others with respect even if they do not treat me well.  I will show respect to those in authority over me, no matter how they treat me.  And because I do, God is pleased and thankful.

Obedience is a tree of life!