Love: Honor and Respect
Love is honorable and respectable. We understand this from the description of agape love described in I Corinthians 13. The Message version of this chapter is very descriptive.
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. 3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. 8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. 11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. 12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. I Corinthians 13:1-13 (The Message, MSG)
According to the Merriam Collegiate Dictionary, love is defined as a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. Its definition of honor is to show respect, homage, reverence; to show esteem to another. And lastly, the definition given for respect is consideration, high or special regard, esteem, to refrain from interfering with. While these definitions are good, the definition for love is somewhat incomplete.
In I Corinthians 13, the Greek word for love is actually agape, often referred to as God’s love. It is unconditional love, enduring and self-sacrificing. This love is expressed in action; in how it treats others. This love gives and is not selfish. It is the highest kind of love; the strongest, greatest love of all. It is undying and will outlast anything. This love honors and respects others, seeking the good for others. It values others, thus treating them right.
As we love others, we honor them and treat them with importance. We respect and esteem them. We dishonor someone when we don’t respect, treasure, or give them worth. It is the opposite of agape. Love honors others, esteems them, respects them, values them, and regards them first above themselves.
When we respect others, we give them space and room to function. Love does not smother.
Consider the passage above and how it describes God’s love for us. He expects us to give that same love to others. Agape love gives all, sacrifices all, for the good of others. Jesus did this for us, laying His life down so we could live. This is the highest love and is full of honor and respect for others. The more we show love to others, the more we will demonstrate honor and respect towards them. Agape requires that we treat others the way God treats us.
