"Respect"

Respect is a word that has quite a history and over those years of use there are nuances of difference in meaning.  However, which ever period one chooses to view the outcome is the same.  Respect is a matter of how one person treats another.  As to definition consider the following.

Respect is from the Latin respectus and literally means "the act of looking back at one." Included is the notions of "look back at, regard, consider,"  which comes from re- "back" + specere "look at" The verb is from the mid 1500s and means to "treat with deferential regard or esteem."  (adapted from definition found at http://www.etymonline.com/abbr.php) 

Said another way respect is to "treat with reverent or courteous regard—to value, hold in esteem, or high regard.”  In other words, it is a relationship word. 

Some 4,500-6,000 years earlier the Hebrew Language uses the word in the sense of  “to lift” or we would say “to lift up”one's regard for a person or a people.  Then the Greeks came along and added the dimension of feeling and their word meant “to feel respect for.”  Feeling or not, it speaks to the quality of relationship. 

There are it seems to me two applications of the word.

First, it describes how we treat another person.  An example would be in the following.  She treated her the older woman with respect as she listened to her story for the tenth time.  Another way of saying it is that she had a respectful demeanor.

Recently I read the remarks by a young woman by the name of Sara as she wrote of respect.  She works in a local court system and writes about her contact with those who have run afoul of the Law.

"I realized...that the respect I show these people isn't because they have necessarily earned it or deserve it but because there is also an Ethic of Respect.  That Ethic of Respect comes from a decision to intentionally obey the rules of conduct put into place by something greater than just my feelings."

She went on to say, "I don't always respect every customer I come into contact with but I always show them respect..."

Respect is a small gift that each can easily afford to tailor made and then give to another.  One never knows the outcome of such a gift.  It may well be an instrument of change in the life of another.

Second, there is respect as in how we react within.  An example would be the reaction we might have to another who is consistent of character.  One who no matter the winds or tides stays to the course.  It is to be the genuine living out of character qualities.  Such is found in statements as for instance “I respect your honesty.”  We might add other words such as, integrity, punctuality, sensitivity, boldness, determination, dependability, faith, and many others.

Notice that in both cases it does not mean that one has to even like or agree with the person respected.  There can be great respect between people who have different presuppositions about an issue and thus have diametrically opposing viewpoints as they interact based upon the previous list of words and others like them.  Generally speaking respect between even enemies can be maintained when both sides function in not so much a moral but in an ethical manner.

The benefit is that when a person treats even people one does not necessarily like nor gravitate toward, with respect, there is a benefit that will accrue.  Such a benefit may not be readily apparent but more than one person has been "bailed out" by a person who while they disagree with, has received their respect.