Love your Neighbor
Whenever I prayed, a particular person continued to come into my mind. My prayer had nothing to do with him, so why did I so frequently remember this person who had caused me grief. I had confronted him and exposed his error. He lashed out at me in return. It didn’t take long to figure out that my righteous tactics had not fixed anything. I knew I was right in the matter, but why did I continue to see him when I talked to God. Eventually, I got the message. To clear up my relationship with God, I had to apologize to the one I had offended (even if I was right)! It was amazing how much easier it was to pray once that obstacle was removed from my life.
We can’t love God unless we love others. There is a principle of relationship in Scripture that makes loving others crucial to our love for God. Jesus said all the commandments were hinged on loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving others as much as you love yourself! The horizontal relationships with those around us have to be aligned for the vertical relationship with God to be effective. The knowledge of that principle really helps keep me in check. If I have jealousy, hatred, bitterness, or any other kind of “horizontal” problem in my relationships, it will affect my relationship with God.
My prayer today is, “Lord, I want my relationships with others to reflect the love you have for me. Help me make it right with anyone I have a problem with today and clear the way for my relationship with you.”
Whenever I prayed, a particular person continued to come into my mind. My prayer had nothing to do with him, so why did I so frequently remember this person who had caused me grief. I had confronted him and exposed his error. He lashed out at me in return. It didn’t take long to figure out that my righteous tactics had not fixed anything. I knew I was right in the matter, but why did I continue to see him when I talked to God. Eventually, I got the message. To clear up my relationship with God, I had to apologize to the one I had offended (even if I was right)! It was amazing how much easier it was to pray once that obstacle was removed from my life.
We can’t love God unless we love others. There is a principle of relationship in Scripture that makes loving others crucial to our love for God. Jesus said all the commandments were hinged on loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving others as much as you love yourself! The horizontal relationships with those around us have to be aligned for the vertical relationship with God to be effective. The knowledge of that principle really helps keep me in check. If I have jealousy, hatred, bitterness, or any other kind of “horizontal” problem in my relationships, it will affect my relationship with God.
My prayer today is, “Lord, I want my relationships with others to reflect the love you have for me. Help me make it right with anyone I have a problem with today and clear the way for my relationship with you.”
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