It seems to be a given to approach a Sovereign with respect and humility. But because we also refer to Jesus as our friend, we may omit the honorifics without removing His dignification. The reality is, we can neither aggrandize nor depress God, regardless of human recognition. I do, however, recommend that you always take the respectful approach.
So what is respecting God? The more important question, what is disrespecting God? Disrespecting God is not limited to cursing His name and shouting insults. In fact, disrespecting God can be the simplicity of His absence in your everyday life. If you’re in a relationship with someone, and they choose to only spend time with you one day a week, how would that make you feel? Whether that day be a Friday, Wednesday, or Sunday. You would probably feel like that person is not only disrespecting your feelings, but disrespecting the relationship. Similarly, the relationship you have with God is not a weekly thing, but a daily thing.
Through daily interaction, you’ll learn the principles of God. Understanding these principles is a crucial step in Christianity. It’s knowing right from wrong, sin from righteousness. Knowing that something is a sin and choosing to do it willingly, continuously, and remorselessly, is disrespecting God.
Knowing what’s right and what’s wrong is conviction, a major component of spirituality. As humans, we have no authoritative right to determine something as moral or immoral because we are just as human as everyone else. So we often lead with our heart, gut, or conscience. What is commonly known as a “guilty conscience”, is actually spiritual conviction. Ignoring that conviction is the same as ignoring God’s guidance. If you sense the conviction but choose to do what you want to do, can you truly say that you respect Him?
Many people exempt themselves because they don’t feel conviction. In complete honesty, there are times when we think something is right, and don’t find out it’s wrong until after we’ve already done it. Meaning there was no conscience leading us. Any human magistrate will tell you that the punishment inflicted is not dependent upon whether there was a conscience involved, but on the mercy of the judge. Luckily, the Holy magistrate does consider the conscience, because His judgements are based on the heart of the offender; and, as a bonus, He happens to be a very merciful judge.
Sometimes, we don’t know what God is telling us to do. In those moments, it’s easy to think that God isn’t telling us. But think of all the commandments we do know, yet fail to follow. We cheat because we want to, we lie because we feel like we have to, and we hate because it’s convenient. If we can’t follow those simple instructions, we can’t say He hasn’t spoken, we’re just not listening.
At the end of the day, we are humans, which means we’ll never respect God 100% of the time. But instead of using that as an excuse to sin, use it as a reason to remember to repent. When we sin, we repent, and true repentance shows respect. Referring to Him as “Heavenly Father” and “Jehovah” is respectful, but disobeying His commandments is disrespectful. God cares more about your obedience than the appellation you use when speaking to Him. So give Him your respect, He deserves it.
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
– James 4:17 NKJV
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