The Golden Rule - 40 Days Of Love

Why don't I treat people better?

Matthew 7:12  “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

Luke 6:35-36  “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

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Few of us can be accused of being too kind to the people that we encounter everyday. In this dog eat dog selfish world we live in there isn't hardly anybody that will have to defend themselves for treating people too good.

Think for a moment about our example. Take a look at how God treats people, his sacrificial love gave us much better teatment than we could earn, thats the way he wants us to treat those around us. (Luke 6:36)

We tend to make our own rules about how to love:

• Whatever you do for me, that's what I will do for you. You scratch my back and i will scratch yours.
• However I have been treated by others affects the way that I treat you.
• I act like I am doing it for you but its really all about me

Luke 6:35 tells us that God is loving to everyone, even to the "unthankful and wicked." If he could do it for me then I need to do the same for those that I meet each day.

Help me Lord to remember that it is always my turn to meet somebodies needs. Help me to forget about what I think that I deserve and help me to love with sacrifice.

Greatness Redefined - 40 Days Of Love

Do great things but forget about getting noticed for it.

Mark 10:43-45  But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Matthew 18:4  So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 23:1-5 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. 5 “Everything they do is for show.

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We have already talked about being humble, we talked about getting the plank out of our own eye before we can help our friends get the tiny speck out of their eye. Jesus taught us to keep our perspective, we said that we are all in the same dreadful circumstances from God's point of view, we have all sinned and we all need grace. But don't mistake what humble is all about.

 Humble doesn't mean pretending that we don't have any desire for greatness, Jesus didn't tell his disciples to stop wanting to be great he just taught them a better way to get to greatness, there isn't anything wrong with great ambitions as long as we have the right attitude. Great men and women of the Bible had ambitious desires to do big things but their ambition was tempered with humility.

When I am serving, I need to be consider these questions:

Will I exalt myself or will I humble myself?
Am I serving because I want to be noticed or because I notice other peoples needs?
Do I need to see my name on the program?
Do I need to have my name mentioned, how about my title?

Ambition for God's work and wanting to do great things for the kingdom should get God noticed and not myself.

Matthew 5:16  let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Help me Lord to always work for you with a humble spirit.

Judging Is Dangerous Work - 40 Days Of Love

Be careful how you view those around you.

Matthew 7:1-5  “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?

5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

John 3:17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

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Isn't it crazy? The one person that had the right to walk around all day pointing his finger and passing judgement is the only guy that never did? How crazy is it that we walk around knowing that we are doing as well as we are only because of the grace of God and then we cop an attitude and think that we are better than the next guy?

Jesus taught that we are to love without judging but in the next breath he taught that we are supposed to be discerning. Look at it in Matthew 7:6 Jesus tells us not to "throw our pearls to the pigs" and yet we are to not be judgemental. Huh?

We are allowed to stand up for what is right but what we don't have the priveledge to do is to judge the thoughts and motives of others. We have to be careful that we dont excuse the sin but we have to accept the sinner.

John 8:7 “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

Lord help us to remember that we are nothing without you and that we need to give out grace and mercy and be willing to show them love and help them without condemning them.

Choosing To Love - 40 Days Of Love

To be loving, we have to make the right choices.

Romans 12:9  Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.

Matthew 18:32-33  Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’

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Everybody likes the emotional highs of being in love but there are plenty of times when the feelings disappear and all you are left with is the resolve to continue on in love.

We can be like that servant that the master showed compassion to and forgave and then he turned around and neglected to give compassion to a fellow slave. He didn't feel like acting in love, he had been wronged, he didn't love his friend enough to love him when it hurts.

To live a life that is more loving, we need to make up our minds that we will choose to: fellowship, forgive, accept and sacrifice. 

Fellowship
Not to be confused with eating a doughnut and having a cup of coffee together on Sunday morning, true fellowship goes a lot deeper, it is found in those moments when you open up and share your doubts, struggles and joys. It is only going to happen through spending time together.  

Forgive
Those people that you are making a conscious effort to love are going to need a dose of forgiveness from time to time. And what about you, aren't you going to need a dose of forgiveness yourself?

Ephesians 4:32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. 

Accept
It is tempting to love selfishly, sometimes we don't realize that we are showing love to somebody only because they are showing love to us. Is your love based on "I love you because" or do you love them no matter what? Sooner or later, every relationship is going to point out the differences that you have but despite our differences we are supposed to continue to love and accept.

Romans 15:7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

Matthew 5:46  If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?

Sacrifice
This is where our love choice gets messy, few of us will truly sacrifice much when we consider what Jesus sacrificed for those that he loved, but we are to do what we can to live like the good Samaritan did.

1 John 3:16-18  We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? 18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
 
Lord help us to make the choices that show that we really love the way that you taught us to.

Yeah For Feelings! - 40 Days Of Love

Jesus didn't hide His emotions

Hebrews 5:7  While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. 

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What a drag life would be without our emotions, they are a lot of fun and they are a challenge as well.

Jesus had the same challenge that we have, there were plenty of opportunities for him to loose control of his emotions.

He was moved with compassion when he saw the "lost sheep of Israel" 

He cried when his friend Lazarus was "temporarily" dead.

We see Jesus love with full emotions and we see Jesus showing us how to be angry without letting it get the best of us.

The important thing to note is that Jesus didn't allow any of his feelings to run his life and they didn't cause him to make poor choices. There are benefits and pitfalls to having emotions, we have to make sure that we use them wisely so that we can stay out of trouble. Sometimes you may think that something feels right but it may defy all logic.

I am thankful Lord for the ability to feel love and joy, help me to deal with the less fun of the emotions and follow your example when anger and sad emotions come.

The Impossible Challenge - 40 Days Of Love

Loving as big as Jesus did, so that the world will see Jesus in me.

John 13:34-38  "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

36 Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?”
And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.”

37 “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”

38 Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter—before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.

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We have been told to love big enough that the world will see Jesus, our daily lives need to have big love to such an extent that it gets noticed, that is an incredible amount of love. It is going to take a big love in order for it to get noticed, after all the world knows how to love to some extent, so we need to love bigger than they do or else it won't even be noticed.

Philippians 2:1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

Having the same mindset as Jesus means that I need to have big love whether I feel like it or not and I don't get to pick and choose who I can love. The biggest love that the world has ever known has given us the biggest challenge that we will ever have to try and attempt. Those unlovable irritating people around us get to have a full dose of love from me, I don't get to allow feelings to have a deciding vote on how I behave, I have to trust Jesus to give me the grace and mercy to show big love .

Thank you Lord for loving big! Help me to trust you to give me the ability to love big so that the world will see you through me.

Love Without Limits - 40 Days Of Love

How many neighbors do you have?

Luke 10:29, 36-37  The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

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Limits are good, very good, they help me feel comfortable. When it comes to love I want to decide who, what, when and where. Jesus tells us that the world is our neighborhood and everyone in it is my neighbor, everyone.

Everyone as your neighbor is a very radical concept from our selfish human point of view, but I need to show love the way that thankfully God showed to me.

A love that knows no limits is willing to love those that the rest of the world says is not valuable or not worth the effort. It is an inconvenient love that requires us to take advantage of each opportunity as it comes our way.

I need to accept everybody the way that Jesus accepts them.

Help me Lord to see the world through your eyes.

Love God Completely - 40 Days Of Love

I need to give him all of my love.

Mark 12:29  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.

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Jesus was very clear about how much we are supposed to love God, he told us to love God with everything that we have, every part of our being.

What a difficult concept for us to understand since we hardly ever love with great sacrifice and completely without any selfishness.

We are to love him with a heart felt emotional love. Don't be afraid to love God passionately, King David was very passionate about his love for God, but don't forget that it isn't all about emotions either.

We are also supposed to love him with all our soul, a love that decides to continue loving even when we don't feel like it. It is a love that keeps on going even when we feel that we have not been treated fairly, remember that God is good and deserves your love no matter what happens to you.

I need to love God with my thoughts, my thoughts should be God's thoughts, I should be focused on what is "true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable." (Phil 4:8)

Loving God with all my strength is where love becomes a verb. My love for God will affect how I live, the way that I interact with the world around me and it will show God's love to people that need to know real love.

I love you Lord with everything that I have, help me to show your love in the way that I treat the people around me.