Kingdom Practice (5)

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. 2 Thess. 2.16, 17

More than a feeling
By now it should be clear that “love” is not just something we feel. We don’t love God or our neighbors just because we feel love for them, or sincerely believe that we love them. It’s easy enough to talk about loving God and our neighbors, even if we’re talking only with ourselves. But the Apostle Paul, echoing all the other apostles and the Lord Jesus, explains that real love is grounded in God’s grace and comes to expression in our lives in meaningful, loving words and deeds.

Love, we might say, walks the talk. Love fulfills the commandments of God toward Him and toward our neighbors (1 Jn. 5.1-3).

If we need a general guideline for the shape our expressions of love should take, we can do no better than that which Jesus declared in the Golden Rule: Do unto others whatever you would have them do unto you (Matt. 7.12). Now precisely because this Rule is so familiar, we need to take a bit of a more careful look at its teaching.

The emphasis on doing
First, note that the emphasis is on doing. Love is something we do by words and deeds. Love involves actions requiring power, Kingdom power.

Doing involves us in bodily activities, whether of speech or deed, in the direction of or on behalf of others. This “doing” does not require heroic deeds on our parts. Jesus did good to people in the everyday context of His life, taking whatever needs He happened to encounter along the way as situations to be addressed with the love of God.

By cultivating kindness, thoughtfulness, attentiveness, and a willing spirit, we will always be in a posture of being ready to do whatever is needed to show the love of God to our neighbors.

Notice, in the second place, that the grounding of the Golden Rule is in our own souls. We should do to others what we would like them to do to us.

My father-in-law, the late Dr. Lane Adams, used to have the practice, from time to time – especially when he was a little down or feeling sorry for himself – of making a list of the five things he would most like people to do for him. Then he would get busy and start doing those things for others.

This is good advice. As you are with the Lord in prayer at the beginning of the day, ask yourself, “What would I like someone to do for me today?” Whatever things the Lord puts on your heart, make a point of doing them for others, as often as the Lord gives you opportunity.

What the Golden Rule does not teach
Finally, let’s be careful to observe what the Golden Rule does not teach. The Rule does not say, do unto others as they do unto you, but as you would have them do unto you.

It’s easy to become upset with people who are inconsiderate, unfriendly, or downright mean toward us. Something in our old sinful nature says, Well, if that’s the way you want to be, two can play at this game. We must resist such mean-spirited responses whenever we feel ourselves falling into them. Jesus loved His enemies even to the point of dying on the cross for their – our – sins. If God did to us what we do to God, none of us would have any hope. So let us resist our sinful inclinations and follow instead the example of Him Who gave us this simple standard for our everyday practice of loving others.

By the way, the Golden Rule works as well in showing love for the Lord, albeit with something of a twist. The more attentive we are to the ways God actually loves us each day – and they are more than we can count – the more we will be inclined to reciprocate that love in worship, praise, obedience, and witness. We do unto the Lord as He does unto us, or, as the Apostle John put it, we love because He first loved us (1 Jn. 4.7-19).

Love is an active virtue, practiced in words and deeds of truth, whether these be directed toward God or toward our neighbor. May the Lord help us to grow in this greatest of all Kingdom practices.

Next steps: Try for a few days making a list of what you would like others to do for you, and then do those things for others. Do you find your love for others growing as you do this?

T. M. Moore

This week’s study, Kingdom Practice, is the final installment of an eight-part series on The Kingdom Turn, and is available as a free download. T. M. has written two books to complement this eight-part series. You can order The Kingship of Jesus by clicking here, and The Gospel of the Kingdom by clicking here.

In today’s CrosfigellPatrick reports on his calling from God as a “Gospel Gossip.” Sign-up for this thrice-weekly podcast/newsletter at the website, www.ailbe.org.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.