RESPECT MUST BE EARNED

When I was a teen, there was an investment company that aired a popular television commercial featuring an actor who proclaimed:
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"They make money the old fashioned way. They earn it."​

That declaration was about money. Yet, many espouse that same viewpoint regarding respect: Even uttering such falsehood regarding the Prophet Jonah. But, God's thoughts and ways differ significantly from ours. According to scripture, there a few exceptions. Towards God, parents, elders, and His prophets, respect is not something that has to be earned; it is commanded—particularly in attaining blessings and rewards.

When it comes to receiving prophet's rewards, in particular, God shifts the narrative ever so subtly that if you're not in alignment with His Word, you will miss it, allowing arrogance to snatch them right of your hands. For God knows the arrogance of man. The stipulation that a city wrongly places on His messengers with the rebuttal "Respect must be esrned," must instead be fulfilled by the city itself before any reward can be claimed. Script flipped.

Much like the original debt, spiritual rewards can neither be bought with riches nor earned by rituals. The only way to satisfy the requirement for reward is love:​

Honor begets Honor (i.e. reward)​

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Matthew 10 (AMP) ⁴¹"He who receives and welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous (honorable) man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward."

Once again, issues arise and chaos ensues, causing blessings and rewards to be forfeited, when man defiantly chooses to impose his own will against God's wisdom; often for greedy gain.

Jonah wasn't required to earn Nineveh's respect. "I sent My prophets to warn you with many visions and parables” Hosea 12:10 (NLT). Like Hosea, Jeremiah, and all other prophets sent by God, Jonah was called to deliver a warning.
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Only LVE satifies God's requirements
"If you love me keep my commands."
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