Weekly Thought – April 21, 2026
Fred’s influence on others continues, even 5 years after his homegoing. “I find myself using his phrases and quoting his thoughts,” said JH. “He was so down to earth and the things he said just seem to fit in.”
Joy and Respect
Joy comes to those who can truthfully (yet humbly) know they deserve respect. We have an inner reading on our personal attributes which measure up. Feeling respect for oneself is somewhat like feeling we belong. Sadly, some people never feel the satisfaction of understanding their place in life. Some of this comes from never gaining self-respect.
Becoming respected begins with becoming respectable. Living life worthily is the way of joy and respect. Gandhi understood this.
Bill Glass, my friend who dedicated his life to prisoners, speaks often of the way the incarcerated think of themselves and others. Unfortunately, positive respect gets perverted into admiration for criminal behavior. He believes their path began with a lack of human respect. Most of them never understood respect is earned because of our human potential for being a contributing, loving person. And just as important, that we exercise self-restraint in preventing harm to others.
I always say service is the rent I pay for the space I occupy on this earth. Too often we measure worth in dollars. Respect doesn’t come through accumulation alone. For example, mothers who may have never made an outside dollar in their life but raise children well and hold their families together deserve great respect and honor. Some of those who deserve great respect earn the least. I think of teachers and preachers.
Once I talked to a retiring executive who said his lifetime ambition was to “leave a better team on the field than the one I joined.” He built a lifetime legacy. A boy scout told me they were trained to leave their campground cleaner than when they arrived. That is a tremendous way to develop respect for oneself and the organization. I love the story of the old man who donated his eye to a young man so after he was gone he knew the eye would go on seeing. Purposeful giving garners respect.
The wonderful thing about joyful respect is the opportunity to weigh ourselves daily as long as we live. If the scales show us a bit short, we can do something about it immediately. Those who show no interest in earning respect by making a contribution have very little joy and usually a lot of guilt.
This week think about: 1) What do I most respect about myself? 2) How am I paying my rent? 3) Who models respect most profoundly?
Words of Wisdom: “Purposeful giving garners respect.”
Wisdom from the Word: “The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will remain unfulfilled.” (Proverbs 10:28 NET Bible)