“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another” (Rom. 12:10).
Miss Liz sat on the edge of the bunk beside Carrie. “Carrie, I know you wanted to come to Camp Greenlake with your best friend, but why don’t you want to try to have fun here?”
Carrie shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s too many rules.”
Miss Liz looked at the list of cabin rules on the wall. “Maybe you don’t understand why we have so many rules. Let’s look at the first one. It says ‘Always use respect.’ That’s hard sometimes, but it’s very important. Do you know why?”
“I guess because if we didn’t have it, everyone would always be yelling at each other.”
“You’re probably right. To get along in our cabin and with the rest of the camp, we need to respect everyone—even people who don’t like us. What’s the second rule?”
Carrie looked at the list. “‘Always tell a counselor where you are going.’ I know what that one’s for—so we don’t get lost, and you know we aren’t going off to break some other rule.”
“Partly,” said Miss Liz. “Being a counselor isn’t the easiest job. We care about you girls, and we want to make sure you’re safe. We need to know where you are so we can do that. By telling us where you’re going, you’re respecting our job. That’s a way you can help us help you.”
Carrie didn’t look at Miss Liz, but she said, “Okay.”
“The third rule is ‘Keep your hands to yourself.’ Why do you think we have that one?”
“It would be pretty dumb not to have that one,” Carrie said, smiling a little. “You could get some pretty nasty fights. And people get mad when you touch their stuff.”
“You’re right again. When someone wants you to leave them alone, if you have respect for them, you won’t touch them or their things. You know something? I think we just made a discovery. You only need to follow one rule. It’s the first one, ‘Always use respect.’”
Miss Liz opened the Bible she had been holding. “A lot of people think the Bible is just a book full of too many rules too, but it isn’t as hard to follow if you understand it. Romans 12:10 says, ‘Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.’ ‘Honor’ is a word a lot like ‘respect.’ When you respect someone, you are kind to them and treat them better than yourself. If you follow that one rule about respect, you will be following the other rules automatically. The same is true about respecting God: if you respect Him, you’ll follow all His rules in the Bible.”
Trying to always do the right thing can be hard and confusing, but if we remember to do only things that show respect to God, it becomes easier to know and to do what is right.
My response:
» What are some ways I can show respect to God today?
» What are some ways I can show respect to the people around me?