Dear Annie,
As
I read the Scripture today, my heart-fall on this verse: “Here
is a simple rule-of-thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to
do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and
Prophets and this is what you get” (Matthew 7:12, The Message).
This verse reminds me of you. Us. Annie, do you remember when you said to me
that you respect me and in return, I should respect you too? You’re wise. As a
man, I should say it first. My older friend once asked me, “Do you respect yourself enough to demand
that your date respect you, too? Please, please, please answer that question
with a resounding YES!” I nodded my head. “I told my youths, especially the young girls,” my desperate friend
continued, “if you don’t respect
yourself, other people may find it easy to take advantage of you.”
He
urged me to understand this: the more
you respect yourself and your partner, the more likely you are to make smart
decisions and the smarter decisions you make, the more reasons you’ll have to
respect yourself. This statement reminds me of a quote: “If you are
willing to honor a person out of respect for God, you can be assured that God
will honor you.” So, Annie, I asked my friend, how to avoid making such bad
decisions and get self-respect? He gave me four tips: 1) Don’t do things that
you know to be immoral, imprudent, or impulsive; 2) Make the conscious effort
to invest yourself in activities that improve your own life and the lives of
others; 3) Associate yourself with people who encourage you to think and behave
in ways that are pleasing to God; and 4) Ask your Heavenly Father to guide your
path and direct your thoughts. Then he told me to tell you: “Make
sure Richard respects you and you respect yourself, and both of you respect God.
Demand this from him!” I wrote it down because he looked very serious.
Thank
you for respecting me – and I respect you. May God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit be honor and respect in our lives. That’s for now. I hope to hear from
you soon. I miss you so much.
This much,
Richard
THINK
BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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