Respect: God’s Power for You to Honor Him and Others

Respect is God's power for you to honor Him and others. 

Today we witnessed many examples of respect. The day began with a visit to the nursery were 37 three and four year-olds sat quietly as we shared cards that were created for them by the kids of Compass Christian Afterschool Program in St. Louis. They then created their own cards of thanks and love to send back. I can't wait to share them with kids at home.

  

As Jon and I met with Samuel, the headmaster of school, parents entered the school property. When the mothers came to Samuel, they knelt to show respect and greet him. Moreover, Jon taught the Primary 7 Math class focused on measuring volume. Again 30 students sat quietly throughout the lesson fully engaged. When it came time to move rocks for the foundation of the chicken coup, the whole school assembled at the call of Pastor and pitched in to complete the project. Throughout the day the children came up to me to learn more about the people in the Bible: "Tell me about Jacob...tell us about Moses."  It was fun telling the good old stories to children so excited to hear them for the first time and to see God use the older students to translate for the younger ones. 

At the end of the day, Pastor Charles and I shared the Character Lesson on the Beatitudes and Jesus’ call for us to be the light of world. We shared that through Christ's respect to the Father, that is, His life, death, and resurrection we have His light and life in us to share with the world. When we love and respect others, our light shines so that others give glory to God. The truth is that darkness only grows when the light doesn't shine and it doesn't take a large light to draw eyes out of the darkness. Katie led the children in You Are the Light of the World and they enjoyed the small candle lights as a reminder that Christ's light lives within them.