DAILY SCRIPTURE:
THIS WEEK READ ACTS 25-26
ACTS 25 is a 5-Day Devotional
Devotional: Day Five
Acts 25:23-27; 26:1-32
Read chapter 26:1–23. In verses 2–3 how does Paul start his defense? Why do you think he does it this way?
Paul started his defence this way because he knows the importance of respect when it comes to negotiation.
He was making a defence for himself in the midst of many who wanted him in prison or even dead. He was standing in front of a leader who had a huge influence i the decision of his fate.
Paul had obviously done his homeowork and knew something about King Agrippa and he discloses this to us by letting us know that King Agrippa was well versed in the customs of the Jewish people. This start serves two purposes
1. He was establishing a premise for the case he was about to make for his testimony.
2. He showed respect to the King by complimenting his leadership in this area. Pauls statement implied to the King that he had a good reputation of being competent leader.
There is a good book by a former CIA hostage negotiator Chris Voss, called never split the difference. In it he explains the importance of letting the person he negotiated with know that he respected them and that he would build a level of trust with them.
Respect is something that people always desire. Even people who don't care if you like them want you to at least respect them.
There are probably people in your life that rub you the wrong way. Whether they are family or co-workers there is one thing that you should give them regardless of how you feel about them. You should do your best to respect them. You may have to do some deep digging to be able to get yourself there. You may not like how they live but if you dig deeper you might come to find that they are a mother or a father, a husband or a wife. These people are trying to survive in this life and they are doing the best they can just like you.
Let's take it a step further and realize that Jesus calls us to love our neighbor. Some of us don't even know how to wrap our mind around that yet. But if we start with aiming to respect that will open our heart to empathy and eventually to love.
This is one of the most important things you can do in your live because it was written by Paul in the scriptures that you can have all the spiritual gifts and do many charitable deeds but without love it is all nothing.
Lets find new ways everyday to respect and love those around us and open up new relationships that we can be a blessing to and leave an incredible mark of love on the earth everywhere we go.
- PJ