the meaning of respect

Loving someone and respecting someone are not the same.

Love is a gift which should be freely offered to every person you ever meet. It is not something to be earned. It should not be offered as a contract ("if you care for me, I'll care for you"). Whether a person is kind or selfish, noble or wicked, God created that person with beauty and wonder beyond any chance of ever being fully tainted, lost or scrubbed out. God loves every one of us all despite the number or depth of our flaws. Unconditional love is a struggle for all, but is a duty to which we should aspire.

Respect, on the other hand, should be earned. It cannot be given without expectations and retain any value, any meaning. It is good to be optimistic about a fellow person's future actions and condition. It is not right or helpful, however, to deny that person's flaws or to distort the respectability of their present actions. Respect and honesty do not compete -- they fulfill each other.

Love involves seeing the good beyond flaws, but it does not ignore those flaws. Love is willing to see everything and address anything. You can love someone and not respect them, but that love means no degree of disrespect will ever cause you to cast that person aside. Love is about togetherness. You can both desire and choose to be together with persons who have yet to face their failures and strive to be good.