Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christians' armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Howdy, fellas, this week on the Daily Blade, we're leaning on the work of Al Robertson as it pertains to men being respectable in the context of marriage. So Al uses Job 31 to elucidate that, and we're spending time in some passages of that Old Testament chapter this week. Yesterday we used Job 31, verses 1, 9, and 10 to show how men should protect their eyes, minds, and faithfulness. And today we're looking at Job 31, 13 through 15. So let's go ahead and read that now. If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? So, guys, how is a man respectable? He treats others respectably. So let's tease that out some. If we show respect for others, it actually shows that we revere God. So we see this throughout the life of Job. He showed tremendous esteem and regard for those around him, and it reflected the fear he had of God. He knew, as we should know, that mistreating one of the created would be a direct offense to the creator. So Proverbs 14 31, whoever oppresses the poor man insults his maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. Also, when we show respect to others, it reveals that we recognize the equal dignity of all humans. Again, going back to Job 31, we see Job acknowledging that all of us are created by God inside the wombs of our mothers. Thus we all have equal worth and dignity in his eyes because he created us. So we are equal in creation, as we see in Genesis 127. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. And we are also equal in Christ. Galatians 3 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And when Job says that he does not reject or despise the cause of his servants, this means that he is actually listening to the complaints and grievances and taking them seriously. So James 1, verses 19 through 20, know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. So good, we've got that. Let's hear them out. And guess what? If justice needs to be meted out, then we must stand ready for that as well. So Zechariah seven, verses nine and ten. Thus says the Lord of hosts, render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let not oh and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart. So good, we recognize that we should respect others because it shows our reverence for God. Got it. We see all humans as equally made by God. Got it. We don't disregard the complaints of folks, got it. Well, now what? Well, now it's time for action. So sometimes in order to respect others, we actually need to have a hard conversation with them. So Ephesians 4, verse 15, rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ. So most people love the love part of that, guys, but then they completely forget about the truth part. So there are a lot of people in our lives where the most respectable thing we could do for them is to help them confront their own depravity, to make them get real with their sin. And in fact, it would be unloving to leave someone in their sinful state without sharing the truth of Jesus with them. I actually love the way the Apostle Paul puts it in Second Corinthians chapter five, we're going to start in verse 16. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us, we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. So, men, if you want to be respectable, especially as it pertains to your wife, you need to treat others respectably. See you tomorrow.

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