Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. (Luke 6:31 NASB)
A lawyer once asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment. It was asked as a trick, of course, and intended to trap Him. He promptly replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' (Matthew 22:37, 39 NASB). Jesus effectively summarized the entire law in two brief sentences. Oh, if obedience to those sentences were as quick and easy as His reply! Jesus knew it would be easier to obey a set of rules for a God we don't see than love our neighbor, who we see and may not find terribly attractive, as ourselves. To make it a little easier, He told us HOW to love our neighbor. Every time you have an opportunity to respond to someone else, regardless of how much you "like" them (or dislike them), treat them the same way you want to be treated.
A little trick that would help me more if I used it consistently to is remember that when we have "done it for the least of these" (including the least pleasant) we have done it unto Christ Himself. Well, that puts a little different spin on this loving your neighbor business, doesn't it? If we could just treat our neighbor the way we'd like to treat Jesus, what a difference it would make. Even better, if we would treat our neighbor as Christ has treated us, what an amazing change it would work in us and in those around us.
Here's what treating your neighbor as yourself looks like:
Mercy and grace. Every time.
You can't do it, but Jesus, working through you, can.
Pray today that we will allow Jesus to love others through us. Pray too that our loved ones will see the love of Christ in us and be drawn to it.
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Link for last night 'a blog here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-overcomer-daffodills.html
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