Bible Studies for Life for January 18: Show fresh respect

I’m a people watcher. I love sitting on the edge of a crowded room, watching people interact. What I see is sometimes amusing, sometimes disturbing.

I’ve noticed we seem to be less patient with one another, more abrasive than we used to be. We laugh at people’s pain and resent their successes. It seems we’re losing a vital element of humanity: respect. Respect for and fear of God. Respect and concern for others. Respect for our traditions, our families and our future.

These trends are evident everywhere. We’re going green to save the earth, but allowing countless unborn babies to be killed through abortion. We protest war, but justify road rage. As a culture, we have nurtured selfishness, power and greed, while belittling humility, kindness and generosity.

We Christians find ourselves in a difficult position. We must live and survive in this culture of selfishness, but we also must remain true to the principles of our faith. How is that possible? Can we really live as Christians in a world that very likely would crucify our Lord all over again? Or must we must segment our lives, putting our faith on hold throughout the week so we can earn a living while devoting our weekends to God?

The answer to these questions brings us to the point of our lesson, that life is created by God, and as a result, we must respect it from the moment of conception to its natural end.

The world tells us we must look out for No. 1. Jesus says we must put others before ourselves. The world says success is measured by wealth and power. Jesus tells us we’ll find success in service and sacrifice. The world uses others for personal gain. Jesus gave up his own life for everyone else’s gain. The world tells us to respect money. Jesus teaches us to respect life.

From the beginning of time, God has demonstrated a respect for life. He created man in his own image and gave Adam life through his own breath. He told mankind to be fruitful and multiply. And in this week’s lesson, he defends the sacredness of life in his dealings with Cain.

You know the story. Cain was a farmer, while his brother Abel was a shepherd. Cain gave “some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord” (4:3). Abel “brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” (4:4). The Lord accepted Abel’s gift, but not Cain’s, and Cain became angry.

It’s interesting how the Lord responded to Cain. “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (4:6-7).

Obviously, Cain’s offering wasn’t right. Verse 3 tells us he gave some of his fruits, so I’m guessing they weren’t the firstfruits. Cain’s offering is our first clue that he had broken relationship with God. His reaction to the Lord’s response is our second clue. If Cain was really interested in pleasing the Lord, he would have been remorseful, not angry. But instead, Cain blamed the rejection of his offering on Abel. In his mind, it wasn’t his offering that was lacking, it was Abel who him look bad.

So Cain invited Abel into the fields, attacked and killed him. Cain refused to acknowledge the murder when the Lord asked him about it. He evaded the question, rebelliously asking another question. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (4:9). But the Lord is never deceived. “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (4:10). And he placed a curse on Cain as punishment.

Selfishness marks Cain’s actions throughout this story. Because he wanted to keep the best for himself, he offered an unworthy sacrifice. Because he wanted God’s blessing to cost him nothing, he became angry with the Lord. And because he resented his brother making him look bad, he killed Abel.

The root of Cain’s sins is disrespect. He disrespected the Lord and his brother. He refused to fear and honor God, and he hated his brother’s desire to do so.

Allegiance to the world can lead to broken relationship with God

We don’t know why or when, but at some point prior to our story, Cain broke relationship with God. He began seeking his own self-interests more than the interests of others. He lost respect for God and his family. When we care more about ourselves than God and others, we adopt the philosophies of the world. We become self-seeking and separated from God.

The God/man rift is an open doorway to sin and selfishness

The Lord admonishes Cain to guard against sin. “It desires to have you, but you must master it” (4:7). When we are not in right relationship with God, we ignore the Holy Spirit’s promptings. First, our attitude turns negative, and then our heart is poisoned. Soon we don’t care whether we do right or wrong. We simply want our own way.

Adopting God’s heart leads us to respect for all his creation

We can only choose right when we’re right with God. The Holy Spirit within us exerts a powerful influence over our hearts and minds. He gives us love for even the not-so-easy-to-loves. He gives us self-discipline to do the right thing even when it isn’t personally beneficial. When we’re right with God, it’s easy to respect all life—whether an unborn child, the first-time visitor to our Bible study class or the person who cuts us off as we’re driving down the road.

It is tempting to try solving the challenge of being Christian in a non-Christian world by segmenting our secular walk from our faith walk. But Jesus calls us to single-minded faith. We can’t serve two masters. We can’t hold dual citizenship. We must choose the thing we believe in, whether the wealth of this world or the riches of Jesus’ love. And we must prove our choice by our actions.

We are called to love one another. If we are going to obey that mandate, we must guard our faith. We must be decidedly Christian, even when the world doesn’t approve. We must allow God to fill our hearts with love for all his creation and selflessly put others before ourselves. It’s fine to say we value life. We must express that love through respect for even the smallest of God’s creation.

Discussion questions

• Do you find it difficult to be Christian in a non-Christian world?

• Murder and abortion are obvious ways people show disrespect for life. Are there more subtle ways we might be guilty of not valuing life?