On Manners

Please use them. 

You represent the King of Kings. Mind your manners. Be polite. It is never right to be rude.

Here are a few to keep in mind:

• Take your hat off inside, unless you are a lady, although even ladies should not wear “men’s hats” (like ball caps) indoors.
• Be on time for your appointments or call to let the person know that you are delayed.
• Stand up when someone enters the room or approaches a table.
• Do not extend your hand to shake a lady’s hand unless she does so first.
• Wash your hands (often).
• Use a tissue or a handkerchief when you sneeze—not your hand or your elbow.
• Put your napkin in your lap.
• Wait until everyone is served before you begin eating.
• Cut your sandwich in half before you eat it.
• Only cut one bite of meat at a time.
• Don’t lick your knife or use it to corral wandering peas.
• No double dipping.
• Place your knife across the top of your plate when not in use; do not make a bridge with it from the table to your plate.
• Keep one hand in your lap when eating unless it is being used for cutting or holding food.
• Chew with your mouth closed.
• No elbows on the table—it’s not a horsey stable!  (Remember that from camp?)
• Don’t push your plate away from you when you are finished eating.
• Don’t call people names or use vulgarities.
• Knock and wait for an invitation to proceed before entering a doorway.
• Wait until the other person has finished speaking before speaking.
• Refrain from using the first name of someone more than a generation older than you until you are invited to do so.
• Don’t point.
• Return phone calls the day you receive them.
• Say “please” and “thank-you.”
• Don’t be the last to leave a party.
• Write thank you notes.
• Don’t pass gas of any kind in public.
• Except for your children in private, never correct someone else’s manners.

This post may be more important than you think. How you relate and deal with people is crucial on the path toward significance in Kingdom living. 

Remember, manners separate us from the beasts. Manners cannot be legislated. They grow out of an awareness of and courtesy toward others. They are ways we voluntarily limit or control our actions, i.e. sacrifices, because we live in community. Manners aren’t anachronistic; they are acts of love.

For Further Reading: Miss Manners Saves Western Civilization