Day 26 (Thursday) “The Missing Link…”

“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” -Romans 13:10

How do we stop the hatred and the violence in our world?
It begins with you and me.
It starts here in our prayer life, in our hearts, in our actions towards others.
Far too often the reasons that we hate are because we are selfish creatures.  We think that world revolves around us, and so our response to the world is all about ME, myself and I.
When Jesus came to this earth He not only declared that the Kingdom of heaven was here, but it didn’t start with the self-inflated, me first emphasis – it begins with two principles:
1) Love the Lord your God, and then 2) Love others.

This is the missing link…
This is the lost-ness of the fallen world.
When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, they disobeyed, they operated on a selfish principle that broke God’s heart.  Since that first act of selfish disobedience, our world has remained in a revolving door of selfishness.

So…what is love?

It requires us to take that step towards our neighbor…
who is our neighbor?  Jesus said, through the parable of the Good Samaritan, that our neighbor is not only those who look like us, act like us, and talk like us, but even people who are the exact opposite or those we do not see eye to eye.  Loving our neighbors takes us far beyond that which we are comfortable with.  It requires our selflessness to embrace this missing link of love.

Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Basically while we were still ignorant and blind in our sins Jesus died for us.  When we didn’t deserve love, God gave love.  Even when we were spiteful, merciless, and cruel, God loved us.  This is the missing link in our world today!  The lack of love for those we would consider our enemies…those we would consider to be those we avoid.  Thank goodness God didn’t avoid us and our ignorance in sin.

If we are to become the very image of Christ in the world today, we have to take up our crosses and follow Him in displaying love for EVERYONE including those who do not look like us, act like us, or talk like us.  This love is inclusive and offered to all who seek Him.  This is the missing link in our world.
This is our missing hope for peace.
This is our only hope for redemption – Love, Divine Love.

Questions to Ponder today:
Are there prejudices in my life right now that divide those I love from those I hate?
How can I tear down those walls and embrace this missing link of Divine love in my life today?
How can I learn to forgive as Christ forgave me?
What are some ways that I can go and talk to my neighbor with love, respect and grace?

Prayer:  Lord, help me to see others the way you see them.  I want to embrace this divine love in my life today!  Show me who my neighbors are.  Help me to reflect your grace and love.  Tear down these walls of division and prejudice in my heart today.  Show your Kingdom in those I meet and help me to be your kingdom builder in all that I do and say in this day.  In Your name I pray all of these things.  -Amen.