The one thing that technically makes us "higher" than angels when speaking on a spiritual level is the fact that even though we can choose bad, we can also force ourselves to fight against the bad and choose the good. Angels don't have that capability, they only have good, so spiritually, we are more respected than them, because we have the capability to choose good over bad. (for Christianity this changes a bit since some angels can rebel against God's decree and whatnot)