10 Commandments... Boiled Down to Just 1

The Book of Romans, chapter 13, verses 9-10 says:

"The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
(Rom 13:9-10)

Worth Repeating

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

"Love does no harm to a neighbor."

"Love does no harm to a neighbor."

"Love does no harm to a neighbor."

Prayer for Today

Thank You, Jesus, for clarifying your law -- while making it amazingly simple to understand.

Please, Lord, help us to love all of our neighbors better. Even those reading this who may not be sure just what they believe, yet.

Help us to overflow with your grace and your love, Lord. Moreso than our own selfishness and uncontrolled emotions.

Bless us with your Godly wisdom, please?

Thank You, Father, for loving us so much. Thank You for Jesus. Amen.

Addendum --

I posted the scripture above on my personal Facebook account recently. Below is a comment from a friend on their struggles with loving their neighbor.

What follows is several responses by me, to try to help. As I said to him below, this is much more of a universal problem than a 'just him' sort of problem.

I've added our conversation on FB to this blog post, hoping the additional scripture and thoughts might prove helpful to others as well.


DC (My Friend): "Hmm. Romans is a very difficult book to interpret for me, yet in some areas I understand it completely and find it enlightening. But as in Rom. 13:9-10, it is difficult to love my neighbors when they show not the same to me, when they don't deserve my love. Yet I have to bite my lip and turn my heart from not loving them. Because when I read the bible I think about the fact that god sent his only son to die for the sins of wretches like you and me when we did not deserve his love."


***

Me: Ah, but it's only hard to understand when our pride gets in the way, Dude. Seriously. Look at what you just said, for example. But... do we deserve constant forgiveness by God? Do we deserve His unwavering love after all we've ignored him,... hurt him, etc.?

Be real, man, and you know the answer is the same for us as it is for your neighbors.

Yet He does. And we are to strive to be like Him. Not like them. Not like, well, ourselves. But more like Him, day by day.

Jesus asked the Father to FORGIVE the men who had just hammered nails into him. They'd (already) whipped him unrecognizable, and were at that moment mocking him and spitting on him -- and he prayed for them.

We are to be like Him, D, not them. Hard? Yeah -- duh. If it was easy, everyone would be doin' it, y'know? :)


***

Me: Some specific helps that the bible shows we can pray for, as the Apostles did:

Ask for strengthening of your faith, for His peace to be in you, for His wisdom - to overpower our damnable 'streetsmarts' and worldly influences, and for His love, Dude. Pray for His love and His grace to overflow from you, every day.

These are just some helpful things we can pray to God for, to help us through each day.


***

Me: Here's 1 last thing that might offer some wisdom. I posted a quote earlier today. It's relevant to this point you bring up:

"If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain."
-- Steven Wright

Cliches become cliches because they're said so often. They're said so often because they're (usually) true.

A couple of relevant cliches here would be: You've got to take the good with the bad, and, Nothing good comes easy. :)


***

DC: "I know it man, but sometimes it is very hard for me to love someone who is a porcupine and doesn't deserve my love but I give them my love whether or not they deserve it. Because god gives his love to us everyday yet we do not deserve it."


***

Me: That's it, man, that's it. It's the better way, truly. It's a choice, a direction to take. Like on a map. It shows many times throughout the New Testament that before it was referred to as, 'Christianity,' it was called, "The Way." :)


***

Me: Also, lastly, was reading through 1 John chapter 4 this morning. Something else led me there. A verse stuck out that I wanted to share on this point. It's just a reminder of the truth. Since God gave it to me, I give it to you:

1 John 4:12 says:

"...if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."

A quote from the old Humphrey Bogart movie, The African Queen, often helps me remember this point, about loving people who seem hard to love. Katherine Hepburn says to the drunken riverboat captain (Bogart), "Nature, (Mr. So-and-So), is what we are put in this world to rise above."

I take that to mean we are to rise above our natural urges, our 'natural' emotional response - and choose the better way, the loving way (or, "The Way").


***

Me: Hey D, the problem you brought up, it's a universal problem. It's THE problem, you could say. How to be more like God, like Christ, when we are naturally more like the neighbors we at times despise.

It's not just you, no way no how. It's (all of) us, in our natural state. But keep in mind Katherine Hepburn's comment, above.

Maybe because it's so important and yet so common a problem, I can't seem to get it out of my head for now.

So here's a prayer I just read that can help - straight outta scripture:

"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long."
(Psalm 25:4-5a)

A Learned Man, With A Thorough Knowledge

If I could pick any role-model, this man -- Apollos -- is on my shortlist. :)

Acts 18:24-27 --

"Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ."

Worth Repeating

"...a Jew named Apollos ... was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures."

"...proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ."

A Prayer for Today

Thank You, Lord, for your wisdom, for your guidance, and for your glory.

Please, give us more believers like Apollos on this earth to vigorously refute those whose eyes are not yet open. And Lord, please, open more people’s eyes. Open the eyes of their hearts, Father.

Reveal yourself to them, Jesus. Rise up your people. Bring them out of their darkness. Remind them, show them, that they are yours.

Please bless each of us with your Godly wisdom, to overpower our street smarts and worldly influences.

Thank You, Father, for Jesus. Amen.

More Than Just A Prophet Or Miracle-Worker

Jesus shows us many times throughout the Gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John, the first 4 books of the New Testament) that he is far more than 'just' a Prophet or a miracle worker.

He not only says quite clearly, but shows us again and again, that He is the Son of God, and One with God.

Jesus tells us and shows us that He is the Messiah foretold of in the Old Testament. Here's just one example:

Mark 2:1-12 says --

“And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (ESV)

Cheer for Your Favorite Team!

Martin Luther King Jr. shared a dream he had. With God's help, he brought that dream to fruition in many ways.

Much like MLK Jr., I too have a dream.

I dream of a day when people will, without being hindered or concerned, get up off their seats and cheer and chant and scream their heads off with joy and competitiveness and love for God -- as they now do for their favorite sports team.

With pride, love, and passion for the lover of their souls.


Enjoy the Superbowl this weekend, all of you who will take part in the many celebrations involving it.

But please, also consider -- if you claim to love God -- why you show more passion and zest and zeal for a sports team than for your Almighty God?