8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
11 This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. 13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.
Terrie's Comments:
Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ... I am thinking about the image of clothing myself. Clothing protect, Cover and serve many purposes. If my life is covered and protected by the presence of my Lord Jesus Christ then it should make it easier to not think about ways to indulge in my evil desires. Why is it so hard to love others 100% all the time? The first part of verse 13 is easy to skim over for me but it is the last 3 words that get me as something that I get trapped by sometimes... quarreling and jealousy... I am working on it with the help of the Holy Spirit. I am glad God isn't done with me yet and he has more patience with me than I have for myself some days.
Tori: That sounds like a good guide. I quite often will ask myself "is this honoring to God?" I want my life to be God honoring. That is usually my go to "guide" question.
Tori's Comments:
I have just decided to use love as a way to decide between right and wrong. To weigh my decisions and actions on the most loving thing to do.
This may seem like an obvious step, but I lose control of my tongue sometimes and I could use the little voice that says, "Is that the most loving thing you could say?"
Similar to your thoughts, Terrie...it's so easy, I think, for a lot of us to somehow categorize quarreling and jealousy as "lesser sins" than promiscuity and drunkenness...maybe because the effects aren't always as obvious or immediate. But when I see how these things can affect my relationships over time, it reminds me of how a riverbank can slowly get weaker over time until, seemingly out of the blue, they crumble into the river. Thank God for giving us His Son to make us righteous! I'm a "good person" in terms of how the world views goodness, but I know what's inside of me apart from Him. I need Him every day!
ReplyDeleteI love how so much of God's creation around us can be used to help us remember or used as imagery to help us understand the Bible more clearly. I love pictures and parables.
DeleteForgot to sign my name...
DeleteTerrie