Who do you love? When I read this passage I see that how we love God really does affect how we treat others. This is seen in the 10 commandments – check them out and see how many are "God-centered" and how many are "neighbor-centered." Jesus continues this teaching with "the greatest commandment is this: love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and you neighbor as yourself." You tell me that you love God – how are you treating people. Are you selfless? Are you patient? Are you serving? Are you living for something bigger than yourself – or loving more than just you? These are tough questions but they indicate how our walk with God is going. So, how is your walk with God going? As you look into the mirror of His Word, do you see a servant (Phil 2, Isa 52-53) or a prideful self-serving boastful man or woman? How should we change?
Discuss – leave comments!
This definitely hit home for me. James talks about not judging the poor man and instead showing mercy to them. How easy it is living on campus in downtown Milwaukee to judge people. During our orientation, our group leader told us that is ok to just walk past all of the people standing at the bus stop without making eye contact. Obviously, in some cases this can be good, because some of these people may be mentally unstable, and it is good to stay safe. But Isaiah 53:3 says this about Jesus. "He was despised and rejected by others, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem." Hearing Jesus described in this way is pretty hard to hear. He was rejected, just like it is so easy to do to people downtown. Every day, I see people that may seem "poor" trying to ask a simple question to a student, and the student doesn't even acknowledge their presence. As a Christian, I feel like if I am safe in a group of people, with a cell phone, with security all around, I should take the time to listen to these people and answer their questions. Who am I to judge them? I should be imitating Christ more, showing love and serving, not judging (while still staying safe!).
ReplyDeleteAmen - Brianna! Thanks for sharing and being so open about a problem plaguing our country and our group, honestly. Let's not show favoritism!
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