Bible Reading: Romans 13:8-10
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” … Love satisfies all of God’s requirements. Romans 13:9-10
WHAT IS the most right thing you could ever do-the best, most righteous, most applaudable task you could cross off your to-do list? Put a check next to the statement that sounds to you like the biggest good thing:
_____ Read your Bible and pray every day.
_____ Actually give your mother a Mother’s Day present right on Mother’s Day.
_____ Finish all your homework before playing computer games.
_____ Never wear plaid socks with striped pants and a checked shirt.
_____ Eat something from the four basic food groups every day.
_____ Love others as you love yourself.
Yep, there are loads of likable things you can do every day. But if you have to choose the one most right thing, you’re smart to stick with the one Jesus selected and modeled for us: loving others selflessly. Paul explained why when he wrote, “Love satisfies all of God’s requirements” (Romans 13:10). Ponder that: Loving others like Christ did checks off every item on God’s list of right things to do. Love is the ultimate moral absolute, the most right thing anybody can ever do.
Your own life experiences prove that fact. You surely want to be loved by others. You certainly want to be treated with fairness, respect, courtesy, and honesty. And you likely hope for kind, loving treatment in all your relationships and encounters with others. If you don’t want those things, then you’re absolutely abnormal. People universally act as if they deserve the respect and dignity of being loved by others.
And what happens when you don’t get that loving treatment you hope for? Don’t you feel slammed when you are abused, slandered, lied to, cheated, ignored, made fun of, or otherwise treated with anything less than love? Don’t you go bonkers when you don’t get the treatment you expect? Examples: You expect your parents to compliment you for doing things right-and you’re disappointed when they take you for granted. You expect your friends to be interested in what you want to do-and you get angry when all they want to do is what they want to do.
You expect to be loved, so love others. Love is the basic moral absolute. It’s always the right thing to do. It’s how God treats us every day.
REFLECT: Why should you love like God loves?
PRAY: Ask God to help you treat others the way he treats you.
