Respect…Do You Have It?

Respect? What is it really? I think we know it when we see it.

One definition of respect says

a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

Oxford Languages

So respect isn’t something you are born with. People may confuse respect for prestige, recognition, fame, and intelligence. But respect isn’t something so superficial.

Many people equate respect with leadership, which is an interesting relationship, but still, not all leaders are respectable. People have bosses that are cruel and lead by fear factor antics. Some people have parents who lead with brutal discipline that society calls abuse. We all have politicians we can cite as “leaders” as we scratch our heads and wonder how they got elected.

So leadership doesn’t mean respectable.

Some of the most respected people are those sitting in the shadows of corrupt leaders forming a following to take charge. An army of undesirables. A congregation of outcasts. A society that is tired of being overlooked and undervalued.

But people follow leaders. But they don’t always respect them. The Nazis demanded obedience in their tyranny reign. The people had to follow their prejudicial laws or pay the consequences. But just because they followed their wicked ways it didn’t mean they respected their leaders or their own following ways.

So, how do we earn respect? Is the question really that simple? Who wakes up and decides, “today I’m going to try and earn respect?”

If peoples motives are only in garnering respect, is it respect they really want? Or is this just a superficial mask for the need of recognition? For the longing of being known?

But what if respect isn’t something attainable like a gold medal in the Olympics, a college degree or initials behind your name or a balance in your savings account.

Respect is one of those attributes that you cannot control. You cannot coerce, bribe, pay, beg someone to respect you.

Respect is just like love.

You cannot force someone to truly love you. They can show actions of love. They can pretend to love. They can convince the world they love you, but deep down, it can just be a hoax or fraud.

Just like respect.

So how do you gain respect? I think it comes down to the other thing in life that isn’t easily attainable. Love.

If you show love, if you give honest love, if you love without boundaries and strings attached then people will see your true character. They will see your worth not as dollar signs, but from what they can receive.

It may sound selfish, but we are selfish. Humans are a selfish race. We are born with the selfishness of Adam flowing through our veins from birth in not wanting to share our toys, parents, food and joys. So, when we see someone respectable, we don’t just see a person with good qualities, but we see someone who will also make us better.

We find some politicians respectable as they fight for the weaklings as Jimmy Stewart did when “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. We respect some celebrities who use their wealth to open the eyes of the world of the depravity in villages across the ocean and sadly, in our own backyards.

We respect people who we will fight beside as they try and take down modern day slavery of the human trafficking. We respect the soldiers and policemen who walk into unknown situations for the sake of keeping us safe. We respect teachers who sacrifice their nights to teach our children how to read and write so we don’t have to.

Some have compared respect to courage. Because when we see someone take down a giant we are facing, we want them on our side. We want them to help us take down our giants. We want them to befriend us, listen to us, encourage us, strengthen us, and fight with us.

Respect can become a hodgepodge of this and that’s, but two qualities always found will be love and courage.

Look at Christ, a prime example of respect. Even people who do not claim to following His teachings and faith, will say he was respected and is respectable. Because of His love. And because of His courage. Without His love He would have just died another man defiant with religious zealots. Without His courage He would have died a man without a following. But through His dying love and bravery He changed the trajectory of every man’s step thereafter.

So, what is respect?

I hope I have just a little bit…just a little can go a long way in the hands of His.

Peace