“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” – Matt. 7:12
Considering how different and difficult this year has been, I am repeatedly reminded of the need for us to be understanding of others. It seems to me that most folks don’t even try to succeed at this. They make assumptions, jump to conclusions, make accusations, offend others, and create conflict. In other words they make a bad situation worse. All that harmful nonsense could be avoided if we simply tried to be more understanding – if we gave people the benefit of the doubt and considered their circumstances, as love would have us do.
We seem to forget the second great commandment which is to love our neighbor as we do ourselves – which by the way always follows the first – “to love God” with all our heart (Matt. 22:37-38). If we succeed at the first we will not fail at the second. And if we loved one another as we should we wouldn’t do what we shouldn’t. But what does it mean to “love thy neighbor“? We could say a lot of things about it, but one thing is for sure – we would be more understanding of people if we truly loved them. Far too often we blame our ill feelings about others on their behavior when actually we are the ones at fault. If we loved them unconditionally, as God loves us, we wouldn’t base our behaviour on theirs. We would do what we should even when they don’t.
So what would we do? Matt. 5:43-48 gives us the answer, at least in part. Vs.44 says, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” Then in vs.45-48 we see how crucial this is. “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” If we expect others to believe that we are a child of God they must see something of the Son of God in us. Until they see Christ in us we will never convince them that we are Christians.
For others, even our own family members, to see Christ in us our love for them must be obvious. We must do for them what we would like for them to do unto us. And, I can assure you that everyone of us would like for others to try to understand us. We want them to be understanding of our circumstances, challenges, condition, complications, and capabilities. Since we are all different, imperfect, and troubled this isn’t always easy. But it is crucial. – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
