Jesus always treated sinners with respect. The worse the sinners, the greater the respect He treated them with. Remember how Jesus began His dialogue with Zaccheus and the Samaritan woman by asking each of them to do Him a favor. Of Zaccheus He asked a bed, and of the Samaritan woman He asked a drink of water.
The power of servanthood commands respect. It does not demand it.
Jesus never forced anyone to follow him, and he doesn’t expect his followers to use high-pressure tactics to attract disciples.
Stop! Right now! Take a deep breath in and exhale. Remind yourself that you are loved, you are cherished, you have value. Remind yourself that nothing that anyone does or thinks or says to you will diminish that value. Remind yourself that every person you meet today is loved by God just as much as you are and is worthy of respect and is worthy of being seen as a person of value. Now continue to make decisions today based on those truths.
Whenever we treat people honorably even if they refuse to honor us, we demonstrate that we have a standard within us that isn’t determined by the people around us. We don’t just honor people because they are honorable, but we honor people because we are honorable. For a Christian, honor is a condition of the heart, not just the product of a good environment. Honor doesn’t mean we agree with the people we are honoring; it simply means we value them as people who have been created in the image and likeness of God.
In prayer we must always remember to whom we are speaking. To address God in a cavalier, casual, or flippant manner, as we might speak with our earthly friends, is to treat Him with the contempt of familiarity. As people pay homage to a king by entering his presence with a posture of respect and obeisance, so we come before God in full recognition of His supreme majesty.
R.C. Sproul
Daily Christian Quote Website
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Honor is due to God and to persons of great excellence as a sign of attestation of excellence already existing; not that honor makes them excellent.