- Matthew 22:37-40 - Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
- Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Most of us have learned the "Golden Rule": Do to others as you would have them do to you. This principle is easy for children to understand. For example, if you want others to share their toys with you, you should also share with them. However, as relationships become more complex, it becomes harder to follow this principle. In today's passage, Jesus gives us the two greatest commandments: to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The second commandment is where many of us struggle. When we are hurt, our first reaction is to protect ourselves or retaliate. We may not lash out openly, but when bitterness takes root in our hearts, it begins to affect how we speak about people and how we treat them. As believers, thankfully, we are not forced to rely on our own strength. The Holy Spirit lives within us and empowers us to forgive even when everything inside us resists. We cannot artificially generate these qualities by our own efforts. As we submit to the work of the Holy Spirit, this fruit grows in our lives. Ask the Lord today to grow His fruit in your life. Whatever He grows in you will always be better than what we try to force into existence by our own efforts.
Reflection
Are these qualities visible in your relationships with others — even in your relationships with the people you find hardest to love?
