Do Not Seek Revenge

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.'" — Leviticus 19:18 

Today is our bluegrass Sunday at church.

And afterward, we have a courtyard fellowship with more bluegrass music plus pies!

So I spent the morning baking pies for the fellowship time and for our friends who share their fresh fish with us.

Blueberry and cherry. Yum!

This verse hit home with me last week as I was struggling with a colleague who has not been treating people well.

Even so, God really convicted me about not holding a grudge.

And not excluding them when we invite others to join us to celebrate our anniversary in October.

It's so easy to hold a grudge.

But God commands us to love our neighbor as ourself. Even when they don't treat us well.

Help me, Lord, to obey.

Love the Lord Your God

Jesus replied: “‘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.’ — Matthew 22:37-38 

Jesus commands us to Love God with all we have.

This is the first commandment.

The second is similar to this one.

Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.

This is hard to do.

I'm naturally very self-centered.

But trusting God's commands is about allowing Him to transform me from the inside out.

As I fall more in love with Him.

Pray for Those Who Persecute You

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. — Matthew 5:42-45 

God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good.

He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

And He commands us to love our enemies.

And to pray fort those who persecute us.

So that we may be children of our Father in heaven.

He causes the sun to rise on us all.

Here we are with some friends, enjoying a time of fellowship.

Love Does No Harm

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. — Romans 13:9-10 

God gave us ten commandments to help us follow His law.

But we cannot keep them without His help and guidance.

All these commandments can be summed up in one command.

To love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

That means I do no harm to my neighbor.

And this type of love fulfills God's law.

Here are some of my coworkers gathered around our Valentine's Day tree.

Love Your Neighbor

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. — Matthew 5:43-45 

Today we heard from our niece Victoria who's been vacationing in the Maldives.

She and Max are now engaged!

And they're planning a wedding for next year in Vienna.

We are thrilled for them.

And we're looking forward to seeing my sister and her family.

It's been 11 years since we've seen them all.

We can hardly wait.

Such exciting news.

Love Your Neighbor

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. — Matthew 5:43

God has told us to love our neighbor.

And to love our enemies.

Plus, to pray for those who persecute us.

When we love God first,

He helps us to love our neighbors and our enemies as well.

To Please His Neighbor

 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. — Romans 15:2

It is not always easy to please our neighbors.

But that's just what God commands us to do.

Each of us is to please his neighbor.

Even when our neighbor is difficult to get along with.

God asks us to think of the good of our  neighbors.

To do things that will edify them.

To put others before ourselves.

That's easier said than done.

Only with God's help can we reach out in kindness to others.

Love the Lord

‘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.’ — Matthew 22:37-39

Mission San Luis Ray

I often take turns choosing which part of me will love God at this moment.

Either my heart or my soul or my mind.

But not all at once.

It's too hard to devote my complete self to Him all the time.

The booklet that pastor Jerry uses, "My Heart, Christ's Home," talks about opening each room of our hearts to Jesus.

But there are some dark closets that are easier left closed to Him.

And some areas of my life I prefer to keep to myself.

Just so I don't have to work on cleaning them out or turning them over to Him.

Help me, Lord, to open all parts of my life to you.

Purge the sin from the dark corners of my soul.

Let your light flow through me.

Boast in the Lord

Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. — II Corinthians 10:17

Today our neighbor informed us that she will be honored this week with a lifetime achievement award for her work in mental health ministries.

We are so proud of Susan!

She will be traveling to San Antonio to share her story with 1500 professionals at the 4th Annual Pathways to Hope Conference.

She is nervous about speaking to such a large crowd. Usually her audience is closer to 500.

But she will do a great job.

Her ministry of Mental Health Ministries has a mission to educate clergy and lay persons for the purpose of decreasing the stigma associated with mental illnesses in our faith communities. 

Creating Caring Congregations, the DVD Susan has created, has been awarded in the 24th Annual Telly Awards for its high standard of excellence in the Religious program category.

The Telly Awards annually showcases the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators and corporate video departments in the world.

Congratulations, Susan!