Celestial Diary

Youth Sunday: 09/06/2024

Everyone knows the Ten commandments. They’re laws given to us by God through Moses when the Israelites were freed from Egypt. But alongside these Ten commandments, we’ve received Two important commandments from God (Mark 12:28-31).

²⁸ Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 
³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 
³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

So, in addition to the Ten famous commandments:

1. Love God with everything we have; our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. Love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
   

By following these two commandments we automatically follow the other ten commandments. The second commandment is one that is very close to my heart. It’s like a life motto for me. In everything, but truly everything I do, I always have this sentence in mind: treat people as you want to be treated.

The second greatest commandment goes beyond my motto; I say: treat people as you want to be treated, but God says: love people as you love yourself. Love is much greater and goes more deeper than behavior. Afterall it is possible to be nice to someone without loving them. As someone who works in retail, this is a well polished skill of mine. I’m naturally polite and know very well how to put on a client-friendly smile, and if you’re in need I’ll definitely help you out. But this isn’t love.

What is love?

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, defines ‘Love’. It shows how God sees love.

• Love others like He loved us: This means to be willing to give your life. You love someone so much that you’d rather die so that person can live. This is the love He wants us to share with our family members, our church members, neighbors, acquaintances etc. True love is a sacrificial kind of love (John 13:34-35).
• Be patient with one another: Patience is truly a virtue. It’s not easy to be patient especially in relation with other people. Imagine coming home after work, you have a splitting headache, you’re hungry, sleep-deprived, and still need to prepare an assignment for the next working day. Then your child walks in, makes too much noise, and clearly wants attention while you just want silence. You can imagine how quickly a person’s patience runs out here. But would Jesus become impatient and snap at the kid? I don’t think so.
• Be kind: Kindness itself is a broad term. It means having empathy and being understanding, showing compassion and being generous, showing respect towards others, and being able to consider another person’s situation. It also means being able to forgive, it means radiating positivity and encouragement, and it means putting others first. Can I really say I’m a kind person? Do I really have all the traits of kindness?
  If yes, well done and keep it up. If no; get to work!
• Don’t be envious: Be happy with the success of others instead of spreading negativity because you don’t have what the other person has. This is the fastest way to breed hatred. Think of the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:1-8 where Cain murdered his brother Abel because Abel’s offerings were accepted by God. Cain could have learned from the mistakes he had made and done better next time instead of becoming jealous. But by letting his negative feelings take over, he ultimately committed murder.
• Avoid pride: I’ll even go further and dare say that love isn’t smart. You cannot be proud or stick to logic if you want to love someone. Because logically, we should first think of our own interests and behave in a way that profits us. But if you genuinely love someone, you first think of the other person’s interests and sometimes behave in a way that seems foolish to outsiders.
• Do not dishonor another: Be respectful, don’t betray them, don’t embarrass them, be fair and honest, don’t neglect the other. These are also things we normally wouldn’t do to ourselves, so why to someone else?
• Be selfless: This concerns those who only act when it suits them. Calculating pros and cons and acting when suitable.
  Example: only giving money to a friend because you want to look good to others or because she helped you two weeks prior. This isn’t how God wants us to be.
• Don’t be easily angered: When it comes to anger, I have some self-control. If you’ve ever seen me angry, it’s either because you genuinely deserved it or because I’ve been holding onto that negativity for a long time. Typically, I manage to resolve my negativity through irritation and frustration, preventing myself from reaching a state of anger. But even when I eventually get angry, I know how to deal with it.
  Remember my life-motto: ‘treat others as you want to be treated’. This is why I don’t speak in anger but rather, I isolate myself, and I take my time to cool off and not let the situation escalate.
  Why? Because in a fit of anger it’s very easy to say or do something you’ll regret later. To avoid this, I keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to sin because someone pushed the wrong buttons. There is no relationship that can survive if ‘anger’ has the upper hand.
• Avoid keeping records: Women are professionals in this area; annoy us a bit and we bring up stories of what you did on December 12, 2007 when you were with person A,B and C.
  It’s not correct, it’s not okay. We must learn to forgive and forget (Jeremiah 31:34).
• Don’t delight in evil: This seems fairly obvious, because how can you claim to love someone but enjoy their misery? That doesn’t work.
• Be honest: Love without honesty is a sham. When I say honesty, I also don’t mean intentionally hurting the other person. There are of course ways to convey a message without compromising the integrity of the other person. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be honest.
  Imagine you have a friend with a lower IQ than yours. She keeps trying to do a task over and over again but she fails every time. Love makes it clear to the other person: this task is too difficult for you, maybe it’s best to look for an alternative that suits you better. This is completely different from saying outright; you’re not smart enough for this task.
• Defend one another: This speaks for itself; it’s even a reflex and a sign of true love. It’s something that happens instinctively because you have the best interests of the other person at heart.
• Be trustworthy: This is also difficult because we live in a society where few people show genuine love. Imagine if everyone loved each other as God wanted, do you think trust would be difficult? Absolutely not! Because with love, you would never want to betray the other person.
• Stay hopeful: No matter how bad the situation may seem, love is hopeful, doesn’t give up, and supports with the desire for future improvement.
• Persevere in hard times: Don’t give up easily. Learn to persists in hope of improvement (love is blind). Believe that with love, everything can be set right.

Practical ways to love

• Be patient and kind; No matter how difficult it may be sometimes to tolerate the other, we must still do it.
• Forgive each other; If God didn’t love us, He would absolutely not forgive us. If someone has hurt you, mention it, talk it out but forgive each other (Colossians 3:13).
• Serve each other; Love is not just an emotion, it’s also a behavior. What do you do for the other to show that you love them? Do you help with cooking when they’re hungry? Do you help with homework when they’re stuck? Are you a listening ear in their times of need? How can you be useful to the other and show that you care about them?
• Build each other up: For example, a family is the place for children to develop themselves. A family without love creates a menace unto society later. When was the last time you hugged, kissed, or even lovingly looked at a family member or friend? Give good advice, encourage each other when things get a little tough, and be a support pillar for each other as God is for us (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
• Spend time with each other; How can you get to know each other better if there are no moments where you spend time with each other? Ask questions, tell stories, laugh together, cry together, build something together. Even Jesus did all of this during His short time on earth.
• Pray for each other: There is beauty in thinking about someone and bringing their concerns before God. Knowing that someone is doing this for you is also extremely encouraging. Pray with and for each other as a family.
• Be humble and respectful: There is no life on earth that is worth more than another. We are all equal in the eyes of God. We are all His children. Keep this in mind in your interactions with each other. You’re dealing with another child of God; therefore, you must remain respectful.

Love isn’t easy, but it’s worth it!

Stay Blessed x