Acts 10:17-23

It's tough to earn respect.  It's even tougher when people have prejudices going against them.  Whether they're fat, or dumb, or white, or whatever, it can be tough to overcome that and earn respect.  

One of the lame things about my job is that I know that some people will not respect me pretty much no matter what I do.  They are unhappy with something and so they will find something wrong with what I do.  Or don't do.  I guess it would be dumb to demand their respect.  Or wear myself out trying to earn it.  The best thing to do is probably just do what I know is right and let them do what they have to do.  Life's just easier that way.  JM

Expectations

I've always felt that people, and students especially, love to meet expectations.  If we expect them to be respectful, then they will generally be respectful.  If we expect them to misbehave, then they will generally misbehave.  

Here's a great post from Danielle about the importance of treating people with respect and the human desire to meet expectations.  Interesting read so click through, but here's my favorite part: 

And as we listen to her relay this story to us, we are all stunned --our mouths gaping open in horrified amazement.
"Weren't you scared? " We asked.
"Of course I was."
"Why didn't you just let the cops take him away?"
"Because, if you treat someone like an animal, they are going to act like an animal.
Because, you guys, if you want someone to act respectful, you must first treat them with respect."

JM

Matthew 23:1-4

A lot of times we like to think we can not respect somebody's authority over us just because we don't like that person. Maybe they're mean. Maybe they're hypocrites. Maybe we just don't get along. But God still put them in authority over us. So we must respect them.
I struggled with one student in my ministry a long time ago over this issue. She said repeatedly that she would not listen to me or do anything that I asked her to do simply because she did not like me and had no respect for me. So I told her that she needed to respect the position that I was in, but not necessarily me. This can be hard if you really don't like somebody. I struggle with this a lot. JM