Respect Me

I Timothy 4:12-13

Isn't it annoying to deal with someone who demands respect in a disrespectful way! Now, let's be honest, how many of us did that very thing when we were younger? I did. I have even used this verse to tell someone that they were supposed to respect me. That very action demonstrated that I neither understood the verse, nor was I deserving of respect. I was not quite that bad when I began pastoring my first church, but I still needed a lot of humbling. It is when we become humble that we are respectable. It is in humility that we are worthy to lead.

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“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”

I Timothy 4:12-13

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As we transition from childhood to adulthood, we desire to be viewed as equals by those who are older than us. However, we often go about it in the wrong way. We demand respect. Respect is not something that is demanded, or commanded, but rather it is earned. This is not far from what Paul was telling Timothy. The idea here is that people would respect Timothy despite of his youth because he conducted himself with maturity beyond his years . This would be done by his being an example to other believers, "in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity". Let me give you an example. When I was in seminary, we had a rather rebellious group of young men in our class. Rules were broken, pranks were pulled, and opinions were expressed. However, there was one young man who stood out from all of us. He displayed a respect for the rules, and he spoke words to calm our rebellious natures. Though he is younger than me, to this day I still have a great deal of respect for him. That is exactly what Paul was telling Timothy to be.

When we live a life that is worthy of respect, one "in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity", then we will get respect. Well, people who matter will respect us anyway. There will always be those people who are so vile, and they do not respect themselves, so they do not respect other people either. We will be surprised by the number of people who we do not even know that will respect us because of our character.

For Timothy to be this kind of man, he had to give attention to reading, teaching, and holding to sound doctrine. Paul was telling him that Godliness needed to dominate his life. This is accomplished by reading God's Word. This has to come first. Once we make reading it a continual practice, then we can teach it. A person may learn from a teacher, but they will learn far more from teaching. Pastors especially, if we do our due diligence in preparing a message, will learn far more from our own study than we ever do from sitting in a class. Then, we must give attention to doctrine. We are not just telling stories from the Bible. We are not just sharing good ideas. These teachings are to be the framework around which our lives are built. They make us who we are. When they direct our lives, no man will rightfully despise us, regardless of our age.

Father, we all want to be respected, but so often we conduct ourselves in ways that are not worthy of respect. I pray that I would live a life that glorifies You. If my life does that, then I will have the respect of people that matter. More importantly, I will have Your approval.