Must I Really Love THAT Person? - Part 3

When my granddaughter was four, she asked if we could take a walk around the neighborhood. About halfway around the block she asked, "Why is the sidewalk different? It's crumbling and I can see little shells in it." Her question caused me to question the values of the company who sold an inferior product.

The Roman Empire was among the first to use concrete for their structures, and some of those structures are still standing twenty centuries later. What gives personal values the sustaining power to withstand the trials and storms of life? Values must be firmly grounded in a clear sense of what is right and wrong.

God has given us Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit and his word to guide our walk through this world. The presence of God in our lives strengthens our values by telling us to strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love and the strength to endure. Whenever anything that is not pure, honest and true gets mixed into our lives, it must be identified and cleaned out. With God’s help, you can do it.  

Must I Really Love THAT Person? - Part 2

Some people believe “loving your neighbor as yourself” is out-of-step with today’s reality. Whom do you consider to be your neighbor? Is loving your neighbor possible in any profession where production is the main objective? It’s easier to love those who love you, but Jesus asked this question, "If you only love those who love you, what reward will you get?"

Most people respond positively to friendship, love, kindness and goodness, but when Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself," he went beyond the easy group. He extended it outward to include the hard-to-love person, the one who is difficult to trust, and those with grumpy dispositions.

Tenacity means being resolved to do what is right even though struggles and temptations are ever-present. Someone summed it up this way, "There is no merit where there is no trial or when you dodged the hard, difficult issues of life.” Determination and resilience generate blessings when you choose to follow Jesus’ command to "Love one another as I have loved you.”  

Must I Really Love THAT Person? - Part 1

Jesus taught that “the second part of the greatest command to love God with all your heart, soul and mind was to love your neighbor as yourself.” A neighbor could be anyone who is difficult to love. Who would that be in your life? Remember, what Jesus commands, he makes possible.

In George Bernard Shaw's play, The Ideal Husband, one character proclaims, "To love yourself is the beginning of a life-long romance with yourself." Is this what Jesus’ intended in his command to "love your neighbor as yourself? Not if loving yourself means extreme self-indulgence and self-centeredness.

Jesus intends for you to value and care for yourself as God's property. Some people refuse to take this command seriously until there's a crisis or it’s too late to do so. Jesus also said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" for "I solemnly say to you, every time you do a good deed to one of these most insignificant people, you do it as a good deed for me." Something to think about and follow through on. 

Hero or Failure? Riding the Roller Coaster - Part 3

Living a good life depends on your personal values, which supply meaning and purpose to your life. They are the heart and soul of your existence. Values that are enhanced by the presence of Christ Jesus provide energy and power for staying focused when life becomes too difficult or too easy. It's during these times when your values may be discounted or suppressed, implying they are outdated and insignificant for what you now want to be and do. 

God's presence in our lives gives values the strength to endure. If you were asked, "What do you value most," what would you say?  David, described as a man after God's own heart, begged God to create in him a clean heart.

In this context, the word heart describes David’s conscience that yearned to be unshackled from failures in thoughts and deeds. God's word makes it clear that anyone who seeks him with a repentant heart will find him, regardless how deep into sin that person may have plunged. It's a significant choice and is necessary for reclaiming your faith and lost values. 

Hero or Failure? Riding the Roller Coaster - Part 2

Gideon served as a judge in Israel before there was a king. Hebrews 11 introduces him as a member of the Hall of Faith. God's call came as he was working to provide for his family, practicing values that were upright and honorable. He became a hero by defeating an entire army with just three hundred men because God was with him.

After this decisive battle Gideon demonstrated moments of moral failure. He failed to anchor Israel in faithfulness to God, for after his death the nation soon returned to idol worship. Abimelech, Gideon’s son whose mother was a concubine, had all but one of his half-brothers killed.

What's clear about Gideon is that he could be a hero one day and a moral failure the next. God's desire is that we develop and maintain values that reflect his presence in our lives. Yet by God's grace and mercy, he can and will use us despite our limitations and failures. Thank God for his unmerited favor that permits us to choose and serve him.  

Hero or Failure? Riding the Roller Coaster - Part 1

Consistency in practicing personal values requires time and commitment, in addition to thought-out, self-imposed boundaries. Gideon, the Old Testament judge, lived with two sets of values. Judges 8:31 identifies this duality. Gideon had a concubine who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.

The Life Application Bible has this comment: "The relationship between Gideon and a concubine produced a son who tore apart Gideon's family and caused tragedy for the nation.” Gideon's story illustrates that heroes in battle are not always heroes in daily life. No matter who you are, moral negligence is the pathway to sorrow and regret.

What causes moral laxness? Perhaps having too much self-confidence, or thinking you’re above failure? What seems like fun and pleasure may produce bitter consequences. Remember this warning: sin in haste and repent at leisure. Aren't you glad you can make choices that honor Christ Jesus? God's forgiveness is for anyone who earnestly seeks it. 

Keep Your Values in Focus - Part 3

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian, was murdered by the Gestapo near the end of World War II because he spoke against Hitler and the war. Bonhoeffer wrote about the "cost of discipleship" and "cheap grace." He gave his life for his values and for what he knew was God’s will for himself.

He could have been rescued by friends in Germany, England, and America, but he refused. It would have been impossible for him to have returned to the church and been a creditable leader if he had betrayed his values. Bonhoeffer chose costly grace and forfeited his life because he could not live by contradictory values and behaviors.

A businessman related that he had several sexual liaisons when he was out of the country and feared he had contacted AIDS. This man had created two worlds for himself which required two sets of values. God's word encourages us to be single-minded, to have the mind of Christ Jesus, for he gives us God's grace, costly grace.

Keep Your Values in Focus - Part 2

Country singer Johnny Cash documented that the best advice he obtained as a young entertainer was to keep focused consistently on the fact that his talents were God-given. He confessed that he sometimes lost sight of this admonition and abused these gifts. Losing sight of one's values is often a prelude to personal crises.

Proverbs 22:1 states, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great wealth." What does a good name have to do with values? A good name identifies a person with high standards. My sister-in-law speaks of my brother Carl as “a good, kind-hearted man who can be trusted because he is honest and truthful.” Carl has a good name.

Listen to these wise words of wisdom. "Morals without faith and trust in Christ Jesus will wither and die, like seed sown upon stony ground or among the briars and thorns." Maintaining a strong faith requires constant focus on Christ Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Jesus gives special gifts to those who, when using the gifts appropriately, bring honor and glory to God. 

Keep Your Values in Focus - Part 1

When values become an issue in the political arena, you can be sure the family, church, and schools have failed, either by choice or default. While values determine the fate of a family or nation, they coincidentally may be seldom practiced or nurtured. One way of explaining values is to speak of taking the high road or the low road throughout life.

Once when I went hunting with my father-in-law, to our dismay we discovered several dead deer along a country road. Someone had used a powerful spot light and rifle the night before to kill the deer just for fun. This senseless killing angered my father-in-law because it collided with his values.

What you value about life and God’s creation can measure what you value about yourself. Jesus gave this guideline for living, centered in the Golden Rule. "Do not do to others what would anger you, if the same were done to you." God loves all of creation enough to look forward to its redemption, so honor what God created and loves. 

Rich Rewards from the Golden Rule - Part 3

Why should anyone take the Golden Rule seriously? The Golden Rule negates selfishness, but moreover it saves a person from himself. "Do unto others" means extending yourself to others.  It means giving yourself to others, not only giving, but giving with the right attitude.

In his book, Thanks Be unto God, Robert Rodenmayer offers three kinds of giving: grudge giving, duty giving, and thanksgiving. “Grudge giving says, ‘I hate to;’ duty giving says, ‘I ought to;’ thanksgiving says, ‘I want to.’ Grudge giving comes with restraint, duty giving says I’m obligated, thanksgiving is done with a heart of gratitude and opens the gate to God’s love."

Link "do unto others" as giving with thanksgiving because it pleases God. It expresses gratitude for the blessings God has extended to you. It creates feelings of goodness in your heart and soul. You’re richer because it's collects treasures kept safe in heaven by God for you. It's an alternative to rage, stress, and the cares of life. 

Rich Rewards from the Golden Rule - Part 2

Every major religion has some form of the Golden Rule. Islam states: "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." Jesus commanded that we love our enemies and do good unto those who unjustly treat us. To do so is to put aside hate, anger, and fault-finding.

Robert Southey explains how he managed to develop values and comfort that have sustained him throughout his life. "In my youth I remembered my God, and now He has not forgotten me in my old age." When godly values are wrecked by the pursuit of a career, material goods, or anything imaginable, the Golden Rule must be reinstated in your life.

What's at issue is simply caring for others. Hudson Taylor provides this witness. "I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked that I might help him. I ended up by asking him to do his work through me." This attitude gave him a new direction and purpose.  

Rich Rewards from the Golden Rule - Part 1

Cultures fail because they lack basic moral and spiritual values. Arguments exist concerning the decline and fall of the Greek and Roman empires, but the central cause was the loss of differentiation between right and wrong, good and evil, which bears a direct correlation to values. Where was the voice then and now that stands against the encroachment of evil?

The French Revolution was caused by a decline in values. England in the same period escaped the carnage of revolution because of a spiritual revolution prompted by John Wesley and the resulting spiritual revival in the hearts and lives of ordinary citizens.

Ralph Waldo Emerson observed: "Every man takes care that his neighbor does not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor.” Listen to Romans 12:9: "Abhor that which is evil. Cleave to that which is good". Your core values should implore you to love others as Christ loves you. This is not easy, but possible. 

Teaching Values: Walk the Walk - Part 3

Have values in your life taken a tumble because sin has lost its meaning? Carl Menninger asked, "Whatever happened to sin?" Do you think the definition of sin has lost significance? Is sin just being naughty and of no real consequence and nothing to worry about?

Values compel a person to take seriously the responsibility for the health and well-being of oneself and others. Constant exposure to depravity will numb a person's sense of what is right or wrong. Someone asked a counselor, "Why should I teach my child what's right and wrong?" The counselor’s response: "Children are self-centered and will seek what they want when they want it."

You do not have to teach children to lie or steal or be self-centered. When one of my children came home with a friend's toy, we went together to the friend's house to return the toy and apologize. Deuteronomy 4:9 commands parents to teach their children and their children's children all of God's word and his expectations so that they might live for him all of their days.  

Teaching Values: Walk the Walk - Part 2

Nathaniel Taylor inquired concerning the Golden Rule, "Which feature is most obvious in human behavior, doing as we want others to do to us or doing as we have been done to?” It's difficult not to criticize when criticized, to refrain from retaliating when emotionally or physically hurt, or to refuse to be defensive when confronted with a defensive attitude.

Jesus preached, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," and he was serious about putting it into practice. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, "Jesus preached to all people the gospel of the Golden Rule. He believed the deed and not the creed would help us in our greatest and ultimate need."

Today Longfellow could say, "Walk the walk, not just talk the talk” or “Don’t be all talk and no action." Listen to Ephesians 2:10. "For we are God's workman-ship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them." Good works represent our faith in Christ Jesus as well as our values and our choices.