Are you Respected?
By Senior Pastor Prince
Guneratnam
What would be among the
greatest needs that men may have? I have always wanted to know, because I am
confident that the word of God is able to address and meet every meet.
In considering the many needs
of man, the first thing that came to my mind was food, shelter, money and other
needs essential for the survival of man. However, as I sought the Lord, the
Holy Spirit began to impress on my heart that one of the greatest needs of man
is RESPECT. Man needs to be respected.
The Ten Commandments can be
summed up in one word “respect”. Respect for God and God’s creation. While it
is possible to remain happy despite sicknesses, a lack of wealth, authority or
status, man will lose the joy of living without self-respect. He will not be
able to lead a meaningful existence without respect. I will go so far as to say
that without self-respect, man loses the purpose of being.
Loss Of Respect Is
Destructive – No Punishment Is As Great As Taking Away One’s Respect
Marriages break up when
husbands and wives lose their respect for one another. Businesses fail when
partners fail to respect each other’s opinions, goals and abilities. People
commit suicide when they have scant respect for themselves. A loss of respect can be painful enough to
make death a welcome relief.
The pain and the shame that
a broken relationship or failed business brings is what makes it unbearable.
And this shame comes about when respect is lost.
The World Offers
Knowing the importance of
respect and man’s need of it, the world offers several ways by which we can
gain respect. One of them is wealth. We are though to think that when we are
wealthy, we can command the respect of others. Money then becomes the goal of
our life. But what happens when we do become wealthy? We only succeed becoming
a wealthy sinner – nothing more.
Another way we can try to
gain respect is through education. We pursue education in order to attain a
certain standard of respect, but again we only become an educated sinner or a
knowledgeable one.
Satan tries to deceive us
with materialism. We say to ourselves that if we have a bigger car, a bigger
house or if we wear designer clothes, we will be respected. However, we will be
only disappointed, because we will find ourselves to be nothing more than a
well-dressed sinner.
All of the world’s solution
for man’s need for respect is merely vain imaginations. Man’s need for respect
can only be met in God’s way.
Jesus: The Answer
To Man’s Need For Respect
The Bible tells us in Psalms
8:5, “You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him
with glory and honour. If we have been crowned with glory and honour, what has
robbed us of them?
The Bible tells us that it
is sin that has robbed us of the glory of God. Romans
However, we rejoice that the
Bible has the answer! Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for
us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This is God’s way.
You were originally created in
His image. Sin has distorted that image. God saw your need and commended His
love to you and sent Jesus to die for you. He provided a way for us to be
restored while we were still sinners!
JESUS is God’s way for us to have our greatest needs
met. Matthew
In Jesus our sins can be forgiven and
cleansed!
In Jesus we can be changed!
In Jesus we can have power to live a
righteous life!
He delivered us from being salves to Satan and gave
us POWER TO BECOME THE CHILDREN OF GOD!
You can find true success,
peace and harmony only if you will let God through Jesus Christ restore to you
the glory and honour. You can be what God originally intended you to become and
do His will successfully.
Jesus Understands What It Means To
Lose Respect and Feel Shame
Sometimes we ask, ‘Does
Jesus know what I am going through? Does He know that sometimes I feel so small
and insignificant? Does Jesus understand how it feels to be humiliated and put
down?
Friends, I have good news
for you. He knows how we feel. The Bible says, “He is touched by our
infirmities” (Hebrews
Jesus went through it all.
He came to forgive and cleanse us from our sins. When He bore our sins on the
cross He knew what shame was. He died a criminal’s death, wore the crown of
thorns, was mocked and spat on. Yes, He knows what it is to face shame. Isaiah
53 describes to us what He went through to bring you back into relationship
with God. If there is anyone who knows what shame is, that person is Jesus. He
bore your shame that you might have respect for yourself.
Sin took the glory away. Sin
cut you off from your relationship with God, but today God says to us, “I can
restore the glory to you.”
You can find respect only in
Jesus Christ.
A Man’s Respect Restored by Jesus
I would like to conclude
with the story of the man called Legion (Luke
Jesus came to the opposite.
Jesus said, “The Thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so
that they may have life and have it to the full” (John
Here was a man who lost
respect of himself and consequently no one else respected him. BUT as Jesus
restored him; he became a whole and respected person. The Bible says, “… so the
man went away and told all over town how much Jesus has done for him and now
when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him” (Luke 8:39-40). Obviously he was
someone who was respected by the town as he was able to draw the people to
welcome Jesus by his testimony.
Friend, if you want to be
respected, you need Jesus. Only He can restore to you your respect and give you
a meaningful life. Let him come into your life and change you like He did for
the man who lived in the tombs. He has come to give you life and life
abundantly!
No.18, October – December
1992