Respect: Valuing one another highly, treating one another as important, and honoring one another with our words and actions. (Romans 12:10, 1 Peter 2;17)
I (Linda) provide care for a sweet little 19 month old baby girl during the day. She has been so easy since I started caring for her at 2 months old, but recently she is starting to have an opinion that doesn’t exactly line up with mine! 🙂 if you know what I mean? She can be demanding at times; but even though she is a baby, I always need to remember that she needs respect too.
She needs to know she is valued by me, her caregiver. She needs to know that if she cry’s I will try to understand why. She needs to know I will give her hugs and kisses whenever she asks for them or when I see that she needs them. These are ways to show respect to our children. No matter what the age, they deserve our respect in a way they can understand it.
Even placing healthy limits and giving guidance show respect for a child. Giving children free reign to do what they want is not respecting them. It is completely misunderstanding their need not only for respect but for security, as well.
THREE SOURCES OF LIGHT – Help Us Experience Respect
Light Source #1: Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12)
Walking in the Light: Having a fresh encounter with Jesus.
Our children need our respect. We are God’s children, and we need the respect of our heavenly Father! Do you feel you have that respect? In what ways?
Matthew 18:1-5, 10, Mark 10:13-16, Matthew 19:13-14, Luke 18:15-17, Proverbs 17:6, Luke 9:46-47, John 16: 21….
These verses tell how much we as God’s children are valued, important, honored and respected. Do you think this applies to you and me today or was this merely in Bible times?
Would you use your imagination to picture yourself in one of those groups of children Jesus invited to come to Him, embraced them, then told the adults present how valued you are by the Father?
Will you spend time with God finding out that He values and respects your life too? What an honor to be valued and seen as important to the God of creation! You are and I am!
Light Source #2: God’s Word is a lamp and a light, so walk in the light of frequent experiences of doing His Word. Psalm 119: 105
Let’s do: John 16:21
A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.
Mom’s and Dad’s, Do you remember the day your little one was born and the first time you placed a gentle kiss on that forehead? Did you even think, at that moment, that you showed your sweet babies respect by being there when they cried, fed them when they were hungry, or caressed them as they fell asleep?
What about your toddler? Everytime they “fake cried” to get your attention and you gave it to them or when they needed extra reassurance from you, did you know that you showed them respect when you valued them enough to meet their needs?
What about your pre-teens? Did you know you showed them respect every time you were tempted to snoop in their bedroom, but didn’t? Did you know you showed respect when they came into your bedroom at night and even though you were tired, you listened to what was on their heart?
What about your teen or college student? Do you trust that the faith you taught them is now up to them and God? Do you have healthy boundaries with them? Are you still willing to show them affection, value their opinion, let them talk and listening intently? These are a few examples of respecting them.
What about your adult kids? This may be the hardest of all. Do you respect them and submit to God to be in control over their lives? Do you wait to be asked before inserting your opinion? I am at this phase friends, and it is hard! There are suggestions I want to give and evaluation I want to share, but I don’t do much of that unless they want it. That shows respect too.
Light Source #3: God’s people are sources of light so walk in real fellowship with our children: “the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14
May I suggest that you and your spouse or you and other caring adults discuss ways that you were shown respect or not shown respect in earlier days of your life?
Would you talk about ways that you could have been shown or would like to have been shown respect by those in authority over you, especially by parents?
Remember we need to treat our kids as we would want to be treated. (Think of yourself at their age) (Matthew 7:12) This can be hard, I know, but remember we are learning from our mistakes and hopefully passing fewer mistakes to our children. We may never be perfect at showing respect, but we can do it better.
If you have older children, why not ask them how you can be more respectful of them or ask them to let you know ways they’ve felt disrespected? Be prepared to listen well, not justify the perceived disrespect, but own it and ask for forgiveness. You’d be surprised how a humble response to our wrong behavior may go a long way to building a better relationship with our older kids.