In our early years of equipping marriages at New Life, Geri and I regularly used a very helpful curriculum called Third Option. We soon discovered, however, that a few of their concepts also were applicable beyond marriages for the reshaping of the culture of our family and teams at church.
This included a definition of respect as “how we treat each other” (over against how we think or feel about a certain person at a given moment). Initially, we kept these “Bill of Rights” posted on our refrigerator to serve us in the first steps of our journey into emotionally healthy spirituality.
These are the simple “Respect” guidelines:
I, and others, have a right to:
- Space and Privacy
- Be Different
- Disagree
- Be Heard
- Be Taken Seriously
- Be Given the Benefit of the Doubt
- Be Told the Truth
- Be Consulted
- Be Imperfect and Make Mistakes
- Courteous and Honorable Treatment
Imagine how our churches, families, and workplaces might be different if we as leaders made this an essential building block for how we relate to one another!
Send me your thoughts and comments on Twitter @petescazzero.
