Respect One Another

If you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Galatians 5:15

WHEN GOD HANDED DOWN HIS LAWS, He commanded His people again and again not to eat blood (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26; 17:10; Deuteronomy 12:16; Acts 15:29). Before they butchered an animal, they were to drain its blood. The blood was poured out on the ground (Deuteronomy 15:23). Moses explained, “For the life of the body is in its blood” (Leviticus 17:11). He wasn’t making a medical statement but a theological one. The animal’s life was symbolized by the blood, and because life is sacred, the people couldn’t eat the blood.

Life is precious. Life is sacred, and it all belongs to God. Human beings, however, are made in the image of God and are especially valuable to Him (Psalm 8). Human life is sacred in a way no other life is sacred.

You are valuable. You are a sacred person, precious in the eyes of God, made for dignity and love. No one has the right to diminish, demean, or damage you.

Neither do you have the right to suck the life out of other people. Abuse, labeling, sarcastic jabs, cruel teasing, slander, exploitation, and violence have no place in a Christian’s life. Don’t “bite and devour one another,” draining the life out of the people around you. Instead, build others up, treating them with the honor and dignity they deserve.

BOTTOM LINE

We are to build a wall of protection around the preciousness of human life at every stage of development, treating each person with dignity and love.

Moment of Strength: Romans 12:9-21