Are you a man who is easy to respect? Are you respectable due to the quality of your character and life? Does your life show it?

If true, you want what is noble, morally valuable, and worthwhile. Those are not only your desires but also part of your life so that you demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of the flesh.

REAL Men Are Easy to Respect

REAL men are clear on what really matters, and guess what? Everything that really matters is non-material. In fact, you may already know that everything that is most valuable does not require any money—like the fruit of the Spirit.

“…that the older men be…reverent…” – Titus 2:2

If you are a real man, you are respectable and reverent, and you meet the qualifications of a deacon (1 Timothy 3:8). That puts you in an elevated position with the capacity to serve others and their needs effectively. Being a deacon is certainly a position, but it is really about a man's character.

A real man takes no delight in inappropriate things like off-colored humor, vulgarity, or anything suspect, questionable, or out of bounds. He is worthy of honor and respect, particularly by younger men, because of the purity and integrity of his life.

However, the most essential element of being easy to respect as a husband involves your wife. Think about what God asks of a wife.

…and let the wife see that she respects her husband. – Ephesians 5:33

A word to wives before moving on – this call for respect has NO conditions. There is no “if” or “when” for the respect. Your respect for him is a choice, like love is a choice. Even if your husband is not respectable, God asks you to respect him.

It Is a Gift

But please listen, husbands! When you are “worthy of respect,” you give a gift to your wife! It helps protect her from the sin of disrespect and rebellion. Of course, her respect is always her issue, not yours. You cannot make it happen. But you can make it easier by being easy to respect.

What an opportunity to bless your wife and everyone around you! When you are respectable, you do not spend time and effort trying to prove anything; you are a person who reflects Christ and is easy to respect.

Please do not misunderstand to think that people, even your wife, will respect you. Even if you are respectable, people can and will choose to not respect you for their own reasons. Christ was perfect and the vast majority of the people did not respect Him – few, if any, respected Him when it came to the cross.

That is extremely important to remember because it is not about whether people actually respect you – it is about whether you are respectable. Are you doing what God asks of you, which would make you respectable based on God’s definition?