Esteeming Others

The attitude that we have to other people is central in the application of our faith. The success of our witness to Jesus will ultimately depend on the attitudes we reflect to others. We might be the type of person who naturally feels aggravation or frustration toward others – mainly because of their behaviour. It is true that we can experience a great sense of disappointment over what other people do. This propensity to be angry and highly critical of others can come from deep within us. Yet this is no excuse! Why have we no excuse for acting out our aggravation toward others??? Because we have the opportunity to be transformed by the Holy Spirit into new creations!

Listen to 2 Corinthians 5 > “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (v.17-8).

We might say to this … hang on, everything old has not passed away from me – there is still much of the old life (contrary to God’s ways) about me! And this would certainly be true for me. Yet we have here a great statement of God’s optimism about the possibilities of our transformation through God’s own power. Thus we can and should be on a continual journey of growth towards this sort of outcome. Anything short of this is just plain slack!! Anything short of this is complete wastage!!

This does not mean of course that we accept behaviours in others that are plainly destructive, hurtful and unjust. We don’t accept the repressive and violent regimes in Zimbabwe, Burma or Sudan. We don’t accept any abuse towards women or children. We don’t accept binge-drinking or drug-taking that leads to such violence, harm and community dislocation! We also don’t ignore our own children’s misdemeanours. But we stand up to this, not by allowing our aggravation to flow over into verbal tirades and negative behaviours of our own, but rather by living out the life of Jesus (within us) into each and every of these situations.

Listen to Acts 2 > “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (v.1-4).

A clear implication of the arrival of the Holy Spirit to human hearts and minds is the way they use their capacities of speech. We have accepted Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, and thus received the Holy Spirit into our lives, and we will never be the same again. The Holy Spirit is guiding us and empowering us to use our every word in an encouraging and helpful way. In this way we can take up the apostle Paul’s call to “esteem” others.

We know there are many around us with low self-esteem. We can accept Paul’s call here to speak encouraging words into their lives, so that they feel more accepted and valued. It might be that we ourselves suffer from low self-esteem; of course the way forward here, is not to try to bring others down to our level of discontent, but rather to concentrate on feeding others with encouragement, allowing these same words to speak to our own value in God.

Listen to 1 Thessalonians 5 > “But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labour among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.” (v.12-3).

Now of course this passage was directed at members of the church at Thessalonica, asking them to honour, respect and support those who were in leadership amongst them; doing so in a way that led to a peaceful experience of Godly community. Yet I think we can see how this easily applies to all our relationships in life; and how it would also apply to respecting those in the general community who work hard (and sometimes selflessly) for the good of ourselves and others.

We know that community leaders can get it wrong. We know that politicians can just be out for their own agendas. This is because, like us, they are fallible, and also vulnerable to all the pressures that come upon them. Teachers aren’t perfect. Doctors make mistakes. Pastors fall short of expectations. Social workers can make the wrong call. Parents through limited knowledge or busyness make a mistake or two. Yet if we can still “esteem” these people in the role they have, acknowledging at the same time where their ultimate support and wisdom can come from, then this surely helps and can make a significant difference.

We can build this community around us toward Godly appreciation of human value through thankfulness, and a general attitude of thanksgiving. You look around you and say, you’ve got to be joking! Well, I look to the scriptures and see an optimistic God who believes that everything in a human being’s life can be made new, and that optimistic God that continues to give humankind responsibility for the affairs of the earth (despite how we’ve tended to stuff it up).

Part of Jesus’ call to be peacemakers on earth, is to find practical ways of bringing harmony and building good community. It is through a positive attitude to the potential that abides in people (above and beyond their occasional lapses in behaviour) that will facilitate new growth, and ultimately lead them closer to experiencing God.

“Give thanks in all circumstances” is often quoted (1 Thess 5:18); not of course referring to giving thanks for the circumstances (although looking back sometimes we can see how certain circumstances that we have endured really led to great learning). This text most refers to finding a level of acceptance that allows for a thankful attitude in life to God and others despite difficult circumstances. Of course our circumstances will never be perfect, and many times will be far from ideal, yet it is God’s will that we find a way to embrace peace and live thankfully … and of course Jesus is the way!