Read John 3:25-30
“He must increase, but I must decrease” (v. 30).
Real respect can be extremely costly. In the world’s eyes, John de- creased to the point that his head rolled, and Jesus did not perform a miracle to stop it. One of the last glimpses we get of John from Scripture is the question he sent to Jesus. “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3). In the light it had looked so right to respect Jesus. Now in the dark John had questions. But for his respect John received the greatest accolade of all, for Jesus said, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11).
A life of respect is a life of humility. Selfish people cannot be respectful, because respect always involves giving instead of receiving. True respect is not trading compliments. It is giving honor with no expectation of the honor being returned.
Today we honor the victims of the tragedies that unfolded on September 11, 2001. The stories of courage that have come from that tragedy never cease to amaze. We respect those men and women because they had an inner sense of respect for the lives of others and gave themselves to save those lives. (Gordon Snider)
Can respect that is not costly be called respect?
This devotional is the Friday, September 11, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.