Friday, December 04, 2020
Mark 12:31 “The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
In today’s world, it would be fair for people to wonder if God is as near to us as he used to be. Our world seems more divided than ever. Yet something that I think of often is the verse noted above. Among all the things the world disagrees about, can you imagine what would happen if we actually did love each other as much as we love ourselves? You sometimes see or hear “feel good” stories that remind us of the humanity that still remains on earth. These often involve complete strangers showing kindness to someone else and then the kindness spreads to many others. Whenever I hear these stories, I feel God’s presence and work. From there I challenge myself to show God’s kindness, spread his love, and share his joy with others. I find that when I do these things, I feel God near me. These acts of kindness bring me joy as I see how happy it makes people. I even get a laugh when some people are shocked to be treated with random kindness from a stranger. Imagine if we built a world where people weren’t shocked by a stranger being kind to them?
My hope is that we each take time to show God’s kindness, spread his love, and share his joy with others. Let’s love our neighbors as ourselves and allow ourselves to feel God’s presence even closer.
Father, today I pray that You help me to spread Your kindness, show Your love, and share joy with others. I pray that my works will find favor in your sight and that I can love my neighbors as myself. In Your name I pray. Amen.
Chris Ritchie
