What does the Bible say about respect?

ANSWER

The apostle Peter summarizes the Bible’s teaching on respect in his first Epistle: “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king” (1 Peter 2:17). This passage encompasses four major areas of our lives, teaching us that, as followers of Christ, we should respect all people, other Christians, God, and governmental authorities. The word respect is a translation of the Greek word timēsate, meaning “honour or value.” It literally means “to place a great value or high price on something.” Interestingly, today we tend to place our values on our personal rights and the equality of humanity. However, biblical respect is far different, more about a perceived inequality in that we recognize that some things and some people are more important than we. (Compare Philippians 2:3).

To respect everyone, believers must be conscious that God has created all people in His image, regardless of whether they believe in Christ. We should show them proper respect and honor because their souls are of more value than all the wealth in the world (Luke 10:33-34,1Corintghian10:33:34)

Loving the brotherhood of believers means to love all believers, regardless of color, nationality, opinions, or affiliations. We are to demonstrate to the world that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. The apostle John wrote of this principle a number of times. Quoting Jesus, he writes, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”John 13:34-35,John3:23)

The word fear is a translation of the Greek word phobeisthe, meaning “fear, dread, and respect.” The word also implies that our fear of Him leads us to total obedience (Leviticus 18:4; Psalm 119:67; John 14:15). Though we are to honor the king, we should “fear” God (compare Deuteronomy 10:12; Isaiah 8:13). The bottom line is that it is God alone whom we Should fear in the sense of having an awed respect.

We honour and respect our governing authorities because they exist by the very will of God (Romans 13:1–7). Such respect must be given whether we agree with them or not. Those in authority are God’s instruments for carrying out the purpose of governing and worthy of the respect God mandates. When we obey the principles of this passage, we give genuine credibility to our faith. As believers, we are to honour our governing authorities and their rights as such. But we may not give to the government those rights that belong to God alone (Luke 20:25).

Christians are to be a people of order and discipline, of righteousness and justice. We are to be dynamic examples of love and peace so that others may be won to Christ and be saved for eternity (Matthew 5:14–16). Part of living as examples of Christ before the watching world is showing respect to others.

What does the Bible say about Christian character?

 

ANSWER: Character is defined as strength of moral Nature. A.W. Tozer described character as “the excellence of moral beings.” As the excellence of gold is its purity and the excellence of art is its beauty, so the excellence of man is his character. Persons of character are noted for their honesty, ethics, and charity. Descriptions such as “man of principle” and “woman of integrity” are assertions of character. A lack of character is moral deficiency, and persons lacking character tend to behave dishonestly, unethically, and uncharitably.

A person’s character is the sum of his or her disposition, thoughts, intentions, desires, and actions. It is good to remember that character is gauged by general tendencies, not on the basis of a few isolated actions. We must look at the whole life. For example, King David was a man of good character (1 Samuel 13:14) although he sinned on occasion (2 Samuel 11). And although King Ahab may have acted nobly once (1 Kings 22:35), he was still a man of overall bad character (1 Kings 16:33). Several people in the Bible are described as having noble character: Ruth (Ruth 3:11), Hanani (Nehemiah 7:2), David (Psalm 78:72), and Job (Job 2:3). These individuals’ lives were distinguished by persistent moral virtue.

Character is influenced and developed by our choices. Daniel “resolved not to defile himself” in Babylon (Daniel 1:8), and that godly choice was an important step in formulating an unassailable integrity in the young man’s life. Character, in turn, influences our choices. “The integrity of the upright guides them” (Proverbs 11:3a). Character will help us weather the storms of life and keep us from sin (Proverbs 10:9a).

It is the Lord’s purpose to develop character within us. “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart” (Proverbs 17:3). Godly character is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification. Character in the believer is a consistent manifestation of Jesus in his life. It is the purity of heart that God gives becoming purity in action. God sometimes uses trials to strengthen character: “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4). The Lord is pleased when His children grow in character. “You test the heart and are pleased with integrity” (1 Chronicles 29:17; see also Psalm 15:1-2).

We can develop character by controlling our thoughts (Philippians 4:8), practicing Christian virtues (2 Peter 1:5-6), guarding our hearts (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 15:18-20), and keeping good company (1 Corinthians 15:33). Men and women of character will set a good example for others to follow, and their godly reputation will be evident to all (Titus 2:7-8).

What does it mean that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4)?

 After observing rampant worldliness in the lives of his readers, James launches into a warning (James 4:1–17) with this harsh assessment:

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4, ESV). Enmity is animosity, the state of being actively opposed to someone.

A common biblical metaphor for spiritual unfaithfulness in our relationship with God is adultery (e.g., Jeremiah 3:20; Ezekiel 16). Nowhere is this imagery more evident than in the book of Hosea (Hosea 2:1–23). While God showed unfailing love to Israel, they responded with faithlessness, immorality, and idolatry.

Scripture depicts God as the husband of His people (Isaiah 54:5; 2 Corinthians 11:2) and believers as His bride (Jeremiah 2:2; 2; Ephesians 5:22–33; Revelation 21:7, 9). So, when James calls his readers “adulterers and adulteresses” (James 4:4, NKJV), the implication is clear. To the God who has loved His people unsparingly and relentlessly, what could be more painful than their heartless betrayal?

James calls out a challenge to people who have turned their hearts away from God and fallen in love with the world.

When he speaks of “the world,” he means the world system or world order, consisting of people whose beliefs, values, and morals are in opposition and rebellion to God’s. The goals and objectives of “the world” are in direct contrast to God’s commands. To cling to the world/people of the world is to choose enmity with God.

James warns believers not to cultivate a lifestyle that resembles “friendship with the world/people of this wprld.” We must never pursue the ideals, morals, goals, or purposes of the world /people of this world but instead “seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

Through repetition, James emphasizes that “friendship with the world/people of this world /world system is enmity with God” and “whoever wishes to be a friend of the world /people of this world /world system makes himself an enemy of God.” With the same Greek word translated “enmity” in James 4:4, Paul denounces the worldly mindset: “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7–8).

We must be careful not to deceive ourselves into thinking that we can live in close fellowship with God and, at the same time, set our hearts on the things of this world/people of this world/world system.

We must “remember what happened to Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:32, NLT). The apostle Paul teaches Christians to cultivate a singular focus: “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1–3, NLT).

What does friendship with the world/people of this world /world system look like? How can we be sure we’re not setting ourselves up to be enemies of God?. Let us check keeping in view the above worlds of God.

One clear indication that we have made friends with the world is our behaviour.

Are we acting like the people of the world? Do we quarrel, covet, and fight (James 4:1–2)?

Do we “harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition” in our hearts?

Do we “boast” and “deny the truth?”

Do we “find disorder and every evil practice” in our lives?

Or instead, do we display “deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom?”

Are we “peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere”

(James 3:13–18)? Friendship with the world/people of this world rubs off on our character/overwrite our character.

If anything, or anyone takes a more important place in our lives than our relationship with God and Jesus Christ, we have probably entered into friendship with the world and enmity with God.

One commentator writes, “Love for God and love for the world are mutually exclusive” (Dibelius, M., & Greeven, H., James: A Commentary on the Epistle of James, Fortress Press, 1976, p. 220).

Jesus confirmed, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).

Pursuing friendship with the world puts us at odds with God and in danger of forfeiting our souls (Mark 8:36). On the other hand, if we seek intimate fellowship with Jesus by giving up our own way, taking up our cross and following Him, we gain everything we need in this life and in the one to come.

If we try to hang on to the old worldly way of life, Jesus said we will end up losing everything. But if we give up our lives to cultivate friendship with Christ for the sake of the gospel, then we gain salvation and everlasting life with Him (Mark 8:35).