Welcome!
Today: A culture of respect & love
Passage: Esther 1(NIV)
9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.
12 But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger. (Esther 1, NIV)-emphasis added
Today, it’s about “developing and maintaining a culture of love and respect”
Queen Vashti took her privileges for granted
She had her own party, at the King’s expense! It was because of the King that she enjoyed all the blessings as a queen
Don’t we do this often, having our own party without the King?
Many church services, many conventions are done in the name of “the King”, but the King is out. What we see instead, is a “show” of some people.
When the King calls for these people/leaders, it is a “no show”!
True authority is a give and take. You respect people above you and you get the respect you deserve. If you see any person not getting the respect they expect, do a little research. They might have disrespected someone!
Queen Vashti lost all her respect when she stopped respecting the King!
David was a man of humility. He respected God as well as people-even king Saul, while Saul treated him like a “dog”. So God was with him, even as he went through the best and the worst.
If God is not with us, we are in trouble!
Israelites in transit from Egypt to Canan failed to respect God as they should
In today’s church, we need to make sure that there is a culture of respecting God and His people. Young people be taught to respect older ones and older ones be taught to respect the younger ones. Women deserve their respect at home and in the church; so do children and men as well
In the book of acts, chapters 16-19, we see a couple Aquilas and Priscilla
They were converted through the ministry of Paul, in Ephesus
Together, they became an asset for the church; families can do much!
We need to create more “Esthers” than “Vashti”s
For some reason, we see churches that knowingly or unknowingly “encourage” a gap between the young and the old
In the long run, it will affect that church in a bad way
Some churches want women to keep quiet and men do it all
If we look at Jesus and the N.T church, there were many women who were actively involved in ministry. If everything is done orderly, men, women, young, old, all can contribute great stuff for the church/home/community!
When we don’t forget God and the people responsible for making us who we are today, we will do good!
Have a great day
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you showed us the model of respect- respecting the Father, disciples, children, women and all the people as they deserved. Help me to follow that pattern from you, regardless of how I am being treated; Amen
Love and respect is divine; we can’t be part of God’s family and be without that!