Respect

A part of building trust in relationships is respecting the needs of others. I Peter 2:17 says, “Show proper respect to everyone.” It is when you get really close that you have to work at respect. Remember the adage, “familiarity breeds contempt”? God reinforces this idea in Eph. 5:33 when He has Paul write, “A wife must respect her husband.” God knows that contempt is easy to get in a close relationship. Remember Mical, David’s wife? This lack of respect breaks down trust because you don’t believe the other person has your best interest at heart. They are not ‘safe’.
        Respect is not ignorance of wrong. It means not making the other person an enemy; they are innocent until proven guilty. It means not measuring them according to their cumulative faults; not measuring them according to the way everyone else treats you. It means seeing them as a unique creation of God; a person for whom Christ died for. And sometimes—a person God has put in your life to help you grow up.
        But God didn’t just address wives, he also told husbands to “love their wives as you love yourself—love your wives as Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her.” In I Peter 3, we are told “treat your wife with respect so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” God knows that our relationships here on earth are crucial—you cannot be one kind of person with people and another kind with God. If you are shallow with people, whom you can see, you will be shallow with God who is unseen. That is one reason why our relationships with people are so important to God. He knows that if we aren’t real with people, we won’t be real with Him.
-Pastor Dino Griffin