R-E-S-P-E-C-T Series

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

A Little Respect Can Go A Long Way

“Attitude” Series

I. Introduction

A disgruntled old man sat in a rocking chair on the front walk of his business. He owned one of those mom and pop grocery stores on the corner in a small town. As he rocked back and forth, he watched the people pass by on the street. Every now and then he’d address one of the folks walking by in order to attract business.

“How you doin’ today?” he’d ask.

“Just fine,” the person would answer.

“How about you come on in and we’ll make you a deal?” he’d say.

“Not interested. I heard how you treat your customers.”

“Oh, yeah?! And how’s that?” the old man would say as he stood up to get a little closer to the patron.

“Well. You follow them around and if they don’t want to buy one of your products, you call them names. If they don’t want to buy your deodorant, you call them Stinky. If they don’t want to buy your food, you call them Anorexic Monkeys. If they buy too much of your food, you call them Fatties. If they don’t want to buy your shampoo, you call them Nappy Head. If they don’t want to buy your toothpaste or mouthwash, you call them Fart Breath. You don’t have any respect for anyone that comes in your store.”

The old man thought for a minute and said, “I guess you’re right, you critical Dimwit.”

And the guy answered, “My point exactly.”

How’s your attitude? Are you prone to name-calling? How do you treat people that come around you? We’re going to spend the next four weeks talking about attitude, and regardless of what kind of shape yours is in, you may have the best attitude in here, or you could have the worst. No matter where you’re at, you can always get better. I’m determined to get better over these next four weeks, how about you? Let’s begin our series with one of the first steps to a better attitude- respect.

II. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. What Does It Mean to Me?

Respect. What does it mean to you? What does the word respect mean? Webster defines respect as to feel or show honor or esteem for; to show consideration for. Ok, now we have to define honor, esteem and consideration. Honor = to show high regard for; Esteem = to value highly; Consideration = having regard for others and their feelings. Respect is to feel or show high regard for or to value highly; to have a regard for others and their feelings.

When you respect someone, you care about how you make them feel, and you treat them better.

III. What Goes Around Comes Around

One day an angry little boy ran around his village shouting, “I hate you! I hate you!” No one knew quite how to respond to him.

Eventually the little boy ran to the edge of a steep cliff and shouted into the valley, “I hate you! I hate you!”

Back from the valley came an echo: “I hate you! I hate you!”

Startled at this, the boy ran home. With tears in his eyes, he told his mother that there was a mean little boy in the valley who shouted at him, “I hate you! I hate you!”

His mother took the boy back to the cliff and told him to shout, “I love you! I love you!”

When he did, back came the reply: “I love you! I love you!”

From that day on, the little boy wasn’t angry anymore.

2 Corinthians 9:6 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously.”

Luke 6:38 “Give and it shall be given to you…with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

How many of ya’ll want to respect? How do you get respect? To be respected, you must first show respect. It’s plain and simple. The law of sowing and reaping works in more than just finances. If you sow apple seeds, you won’t reap cherries, will you? If you sow respect, you’ll reap respect. If you sow disrespect and name-calling, what are you going to reap?

Matthew 7:12 “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you…”

Respect is one of those qualities that comes from “doing to others as you would have them do to you.” You don’t want people calling you names like Stinky and Fart Breath, do you? When we start treating people like we want to be treated, then we may be treated how we want to be treated. How do you want to be treated?

You can’t honestly expect to be treated with consideration if you’re not treating others with consideration. You don’t really think you’re going to get respect if you’re disrespectful, do you? If you’re a jerk to other people, then people are going to be jerks to you. It’s a biblical law.