BQ: I'm looking into the word "respect"  and what it means in the Bible. This study has been considerably more tricky than others, and I think it's because we've really muddled what "respect" means. So with that said, let's take a look at respect as found in the Bible and as found in common English.

In common English, respect means to, "admire (someone or something) deeply, as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements." In the Bible, as it turns out, respect can be translated from several different words, such as "apoblepo," which means to "look away from all else." This means that when someone respects something, they value it highly; to the exclusion of considering other things, even.  However, that version of respect is rarely used, and when it is used, it is in regard to the eternal. Can you spot where "respect" is used in this sentence, from Heb 11:26?  "Considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward."

When the word that we pair most closely with "respect" is used, it's not used in reference to people, but to the eternal riches of Christ. Tomorrow we'll start looking at a far more prevalent idea of "respect" that God wants us to use in out interactions with others, and we'll see how important God's version of respect is.





BQ: Yesterday we saw that respect means to look away from all else in order to give full attention to something, and that this is used in giving value to our eternal lives. When we say that we "respect" someone, what word does God use for that, and what does it mean?

A: The word that is most commonly used is actually to "honor" someone. It primarily comes from the words "timao" and "time," and carries the meanings, "a valuing; a price paid or received; to value something at cost." We have a hard time identifying the word honor/respect because it is to us quite strangely used, and translators often massage sentences to make the words fit in better to our understanding. Consider that the word for "honor/respect" is used here, "For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." (1 Cor 6:20)

If you read Matt. 27:6,9; Acts 4:34; 5:2,3; 7:16,  Acts 19:19; 1 Cor 7:23, 1 Pet 2:7, and many other verses, you'll see the word "price" used, because respecting someone is all about OUR values.  We'll look more at respecting people tomorrow. 




BQ: We've seen that respecting someone is equivalent to honoring them, and that the meaning is always associated with putting a value/price on something. Today we'll look at this word "honor/respect" being used in more accessible forms. Let's consider the following verses:

"The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." (1 Tim 5:17)

" You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered." (1 Pet 3:7)

"Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 19:19)

Honoring someone is respecting someone, which, as it turns out, is valuing them. If we say that we have no respect for a person, we effectively say that they have no value; they are worthless; they carry no price and are not worth "looking away from [something else] to set one's gaze upon." 

Do you respect people? Do you look for value even when at first it seems not to be present? That's something that I need to work on, and we'll see why tomorrow.




BQ:  I have a problem, sometimes, with respecting people, because some part of me tries to quickly say that someone flawed is not worth much, which is the same as not being respectable. What does God say about flawed people and respect?

"...And those members of the body which we deem less respectable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked." (1 Cor 12:23-24)

Sometimes I've seen new (or old!) people in the assembly with flaws and thought, "They're not really worth that much. I don't see them up there doing much. Bet they still have struggles with drinkin' and such. Might as well smack 'em upside the head with a fryin' pan." My problem was that I didn't value them as God valued them.  Eisenhower scolded a general for speaking of a soldier as "just a private," telling him that, "The private is the man who wins the war." This is exactly what God is pointing to in 1 Cor 12. When we quit valuing those who are just learning how to fight, we don't show them respect nor honor, and yet without them, we'd be alone. 

Do you respect those around you? How about the new ones, the ones fresh out of boot camp? These people need us to value them even more than others, and we should do so to encourage them and to please God!  When a relationship is just starting out, VALUE IT EVEN MORE!