Do you yearn for a better world? Are you longing for the world to be better for your family? What are you doing to make it better? Do you love everyone you come in contact with? Are you showing love to others? Do you love God and follow His commands?
Nearly all of us would agree that our world and our country could use improving. There is disgruntlement wherever we look. Yet, nearly all of us will continue to contribute to the unrest rather than making a positive change in ourselves in an effort to make a positive change in the world in which we live.
Oh, we’ll complain about everyone else until the cows come home. Don’t get me wrong, I do my fair share of complaining, too. My concern and my effort is going into changing my attitude. I want to be a person is making a positive change. I want to be the person setting the example.
So, let me tell what I try to do. When I find myself complaining about someone else, I try to stop and pray for that person and ask God to show me how to love them. You see, when we refuse to love the other person, we are refusing to do what God, Jesus, commanded us to do.
You’ll notice in today’s passage that Jesus stated two commands and that all of God’s laws, or commands, are dependent on these. If we fail to follow these two commands, we can’t follow any other commands God gives us. If you are like me, you don’t like to fail, and you don’t like to disappoint. Yet, if we don’t follow these two commands, we have done both.
Back to changing the world. If we love each person we come in contact with and show them that love, we begin changing the world. Each of us wants to be loved. Do we think the other person is any different? If we want someone to love us, perhaps we should show love to them.
Much as hate it contagious, so is love. Have you ever noticed how a baseball teams’ batting goes in cycles? One or two players strikeout and the whole team starts striking out. Yet, all it takes is one or two players to start getting base hits and the rest of the team starts hitting as well. Love and hate follow those same types of cycles.
I pray we all decide to love others rather than hate. I pray we show our love to others we meet. I pray each one of us decides to please rather than disappoint God. Be the positive example. Love people you meet. Love your parents. Love your siblings. Love your spouse. Love God and follow His two most important commands. See the positive impact you can have.
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Marty Pressey 