The "All" Word

Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King. 1 Peter 2:17

There's the all word again. Life would be easier if Peter had written something else instead of all. I could live with that. There are folks, in my humble opinion, who don't deserve honorable treatment.

In the Greek, honor always has the connotation of good attached to it. Praise, glory and of a divine quality are some of the word's meanings. If all people deserve honor would that list include:

           

-those who are different than me? I don't mean they like coconut that makes me gag. I  talking about the weird, super weird, off-the-charts-weirdos;

-those whose political persuasions and aspirations are opposite of mine? Do I include 

 those  I believe are bent on dismantling our nation or worse, my beliefs;

-those who are blatantly corrupt, evil, greedy and so forth;

-those who treat God, His Word, His principles and people who believe and abide by    them with contempt?

These are some just to name a few. Honor them? Yes, according to Peter. Ouch! I don't like this scripture. I'll just rip it out of my bible and pretend it never existed.

If I did that every time I found something that challenged my thinking and behavior I'd have a very skinny bible. The more I’ve grown spiritually the more things I found acceptable in the past I now call into question. I have fewer and fewer sure fire answers and a lot more questions. I'm learning I'm not as smart as I thought I was.

When the bible says to honor all people it means all. I don't have to agree with them but I'm not free to take pot shots at them either. I can respectfully disagree without demeaning or devaluing them personally. That's no fun, but if I want to obey God I've got to follow His Word.

As elections approach can you imagine how different the process would be if this was the standard adopted? Perhaps we'd hear more well thought out ideas and dialog and a lot less mud slinging.

We can inflict damage with our words and actions. Before we speak and act we need to remember the law of sowing and reaping. What kind of harvest in our lives do we wish to reap?

Giving honor to those I feel don't deserve it is being Christ-like. It is what Jesus would do in our situation. Duct tape makes an excellent gag. I better keep plenty on hand in case of an emergency – there's probably one waiting right around the corner.

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