Respecting others can be difficult at times. Sometimes we can feel resentful towards a tutor, leader or manager - it isn’t necessarily the person themselves that we have a problem with, but we might struggle with the fact that they can tell us what to do. Or we might come across a person that we just don't agree with on anything, or we don’t trust, so we feel we can’t respect them. But as followers of Christ, one of the things we’re called to do is respect everyone, no matter who they are. 1 Peter 2:17 puts it like this: ‘Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king’ (NLT). There’s so much we can learn from those few words. 1) We need to respect every single person, regardless of whether they’re Christian or not. Each person is part of God’s creation, and we’re all made in His image (take a look at Genesis 1:27), so if we refuse to respect someone, we’re not treating God’s creation with the honour it deserves. 2) It doesn’t matter what church, what worship style, or what denomination another Christian prefers. The fact is, they’re our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to be united as God’s church, rather than picking on the differences between us. 3) We must have complete respect for God’s instructions, even if we don’t agree with them or understand them. 4) We should respect those in authority. We might not agree with everything they ask us to do, but unless there’s a genuine reason not to do it (for example, if it was illegal, harmful, or going against God’s will), we should recognise the authority God’s given them and try to learn from them. When it comes to respecting others, Romans 12:10 summarises it nicely: ‘Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other’ (NLT).