Respect: Devotional for January 26 & 27

Here is this week's devotional.  We want to encourage you to talk with you child about this virtue, verses and devotionals.  Be sure to check back here tomorrow for more about RESPECT and this weekend's game day.




Virtue: RESPECT - Showing others they are important by what you say and do.

Scripture Verse: Show proper respect to everyone. 1 Peter 2:17a (NIrV)

Bottom Line: Respect God because He’s in charge of everything.

All right, guys. At our last practice, we talked about respect. Respect is showing others they are important by what you say and do. How did you do with your respect challenge? Did you follow through? Did you make choices to show respect to the people who are in charge of you? I’d love it if a couple of you would share how you showed respect this past week. (Allow one or two athletes to share.)


Sounds like you guys are really learning a lot about respect. Today, I want to share a story with you about an encounter Jesus had with a Roman commander. The commander was in charge of many other soldiers in the Roman army, so he definitely understood authority and how it worked. After all, if his soldiers didn’t follow his orders in battle, it could be a matter of life and death.

But this commander had a problem. His servant was sick. Very sick. The servant was suffering so much that the commander knew he needed to do something. So he went to see Jesus, believing that Jesus could heal his servant. Check this out. Here’s the conversation between the commander and Jesus that’s recorded in Matthew chapter 8: “Lord . . . my servant lies at home and can’t move. He is suffering terribly.” Jesus said, “Shall I come and heal him?” The commander replied, “Lord, I am not good enough to have you come into my house. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. I myself am a man under authority. And I have soldiers who obey my orders. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my slave,  ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those following him, “What I’m about to tell you is true. In Israel I have not found anyone whose faith is so strong.” And Jesus healed the commander’s servant!  This is the only time in all the accounts of Jesus’ life on earth where He was “amazed” by
someone’s faith. And it was all because the commander really understood what respect for authority was all about. He recognized who Jesus really was—that Jesus is God. The commander knew that because Jesus is God, He can heal sickness because sickness answers to Him. The commander knew that Jesus was in authority over all things, so he trusted that Jesus could heal his servant. The commander showed unbelievable respect for God.

You and I can learn something really important from this passage in the Bible. The One who deserves the most respect is God. He created the entire world. He created you. He is an all knowing, all loving, mountain-moving, storm-controlling, miracle-working God. He is in control over all things. There is no one more powerful or more worthy of our respect.  And get this. God loves you. He’s not just a powerful God who is uninterested in us. He knows every single thing about you. The Bible says He even knows exactly how many hairs are on your head. He has a good plan for your life. But He wants and He deserves your respect. We need to respect God because He’s in charge of everything.

Let’s pray and tell Him how much we love and respect Him today.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, You are an awesome God. There is no one like You. You are the one true God and the only one worthy of our respect and praise. We want everyone around us to see You for who You really are—a mighty God who loves us more than we could ever imagine. Thank You for loving us, God, and for giving us