December 28 2017 – Click here to listen
I have the nasty habit of looking back at my past and wishing I had not made so many mistakes in life.
If I only had it all to do over again . . .
I reviewed 2017 as part of the process of setting my goals for 2018. As I always do, I first tried to determine what I did right and what I did wrong in 2017. Instinctively I began lamenting the mistakes of 2017. Then I abruptly told myself, “Forget about 2017 and start thinking about 2018 right now.”
I have a brand new year ahead of me and it is a virtual clean slate. All I need to do is to keep in mind the two greatest commands as defined by none other than Jesus in every project that I undertake and I’m sure to do better.
“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” Jesus declared, “‘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.’ Matt. 22:37
This is not to say there are no other important commandments; there are! But it is to say that if we observe these two, the rest will fall into place. It is not complicated. God should always be our number one priority. Family, career and health in my opinion should be on equal footing but below God. I often receive criticism for putting career and health on the same level as family; however, without a career I cannot take care of my family, nor can I contribute financially to the Kingdom of God, and if my health fails I cannot serve God, family, friends, acquaintances and complete strangers to whom I witness.
Some might ask, “Where does self-love come in?”
Matthew Henry wrote: “There is a self-love which is corrupt, and the root of the greatest sins, and it must be put off and mortified; but there is a self-love which is the rule of the greatest duty: we must have a due concern for the welfare of our own souls and bodies. And we must love our neighbor as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves; in many cases we must deny ourselves for the good of others.”
Everything else, friends, hobbies, etc. falls according to those priorities and thus goal setting is simplified. So, as I look ahead to 2018 I’m excited at the opportunities ahead to serve the Lord and my neighbors.
I still must work hard to avoid listening to Satan because right after I read that greatest command passage this morning I mused that I need to ensure that when I buy my next house to move into a conservative Republican neighborhood far away from liberal Democrat neighbors who advocate everything I abhor. It would be much easier to love my neighbors under those circumstances I grinned.
Hmmm . . . I don’t suppose the “neighbors” God refers to are those who share my viewpoint.
Well no one said it would be easy. I guess the important thing is to realize that our past does not have to dictate our future. I think self-improvement necessitates learning from and eliminating past mistakes.
The key word in this equation is love. Godly love is unconditional in nature. No matter how big of a reprobate someone might be they can be assured that God loves them. This is contrary to human flesh that wants to love conditionally. i.e. If you love me I love you – If you hate me I hate you . . .
I get angry at my little dog Coopie on the rare occasion that he makes a mistake, but I still love him. He seems to love me all the time even if I make a mistake. Perhaps we should love like Coopie? I suppose if I can do it for a dog I can do it for those segments of humankind that I am not too keen on.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”