Losing Respect for Someone

We all have people we know and respect. Sometimes onlookers would wonder at why a certain person would gain our respect, and perhaps sometimes we wonder why others respect us. Regardless, for better or worse, there are those we esteem above others for their character, accomplishments, conduct, reputation, knowledge or something else. Then there are those who look to us as role models.

What is rather interesting is that while earning respect or choosing to bestow it can take time, removing our respect for someone or losing someone's respect, can happen quickly. There can be an irrational nature to the ending of an esteemed status. This causes me to pause and think hard about the emotional nature of respecting others, or being respected, and why it should not be very important to us one way or the other. It shouldn't puff us up when we've found ourselves respected by others because it is often a fleeting emotional situation. And we should be cautious how much respect we bestow on others because it may not take much for us to feel differently. 

In the era of covid-19, we've all seen this shift due to something simple like people's personal choice over getting or not getting a vaccine. The harsh judgment that ensued from one person to another is truly beyond comprehension. This situation was used by the devil to put rifts where none existed, and it has not built up the body of Christ or helped society. The vaccine situation helped confirm what we knew about some people already. It also revealed the heart of others we knew well. I'm sure I'm not alone in stating plainly that the playing field looks different now among our social circles than it did in 2019. Who we count as friends, who we walk circumspectly around, and who we think has left sound reason (probably never to return) may surprise and even sadden us. What has really made this situation what it is, isn't what people individually chose to do for themselves and WHY, but the people who would not leave it at that. The people who felt compelled to push their opinion and agenda on others, whether to vaccinate or not, ruined many relationships. People who overestimated their power of influence or who failed to rightly understand those around them, those who refused to hear why someone was doing what they were doing, showed themselves to be small-minded, immature, and lacking sound judgment. Those issues are the crux of the problem. When focusing on that, who cares what someone did or didn't do regarding the vaccine (which I use that term for simplicity, the covid-19 shot did not vaccinate anyone from contracting the virus).

Thankfully, for Christians, it is the Lord whom we serve. His good opinion is all that matters, and He sees our hearts. He separates the wheat from the chaff, and He gives people positions to serve Him. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and what we used to medicate ourselves when sick will not be a prerequisite for entry to Heaven.