« Approaching Laity Lodge | Home | Greg Ogden at Laity Lodge »
Inspiration from the Pray the Gospels
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, November 18, 2007
Excerpt
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 7:12
Click here to read all of Matthew 7:7-12
Prayer
There it is, Lord, the famed Golden Rule, that which is so often quoted, referred to, and named. This is, perhaps more than anything else, the teaching that has given You the moniker of “good teacher,” even among those who are otherwise dismissive of You and Your mission.
How easily I can read right by this teaching! It’s so familiar. Old hat. Yet if I pause and begin to think about the implications of what You have said, I’m flooded with ideas. If I think about how I would like to be treated by my wife, then I have new ways to show my care for her. Ditto with my children, my co-workers, the person who served me in Starbucks, etc. etc.
Help me, dear Lord, to take to heart the simple directive: to treat others as I would like to be treated.
Questions for Reflection
In your life, whom do you need to treat as you would like to be treated?
What could you do today in response to Jesus’s teaching?
A Different Take on the Golden Rule
When I was about nine years old, my younger brother, Gary, hit me. I didn’t hurt too much, so rather than hitting back, I decided to teach him some good theology. “God doesn’t want you to hit me,” I said.
“No, it’s okay,” he answered.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“Do unto others as you would like to do unto them,” he said, confidently.
Sounds like a budding theologian, doesn’t it? Actually, my brother is a deputy sheriff in Los Angeles County. In the picture below, he’s the second from the right end.
This is my extended family last Thanksgiving. It will be very strange for my wife and children and me to not be with this group on Thanksgiving this year. Too far a drive from Texas! We’ll miss them, that’s for sure. But we’ll also be very grateful for them. Maybe distance will even enhance our appreciation. It’s so easy to take people for granted when you’re with them a lot.
Pray the Gospels
Pray the Gospels is one of my two devotional websites. The other is Pray the Psalms. Both sites include a daily Bible reading from either the Gospels or the Psalms, along with a prayer and some additional thoughts or questions for reflection.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration |
2 Responses to “Inspiration from the Pray the Gospels”
Comments
Thanks for your willingness to make a comment. Note: I do not moderate comments before they are posted, though they are automatically screened for profanities, spam, etc., and sometimes the screening program holds comments for moderation even though they're not offensive. I encourage open dialogue and serious disagreement, and am always willing to learn from my mistakes. I will not delete comments unless they are extraordinarily rude or irrelevant to the topic at hand. You do need to login in order to make a comment, because this cuts down on spam. You are free to use a nickname if you wish. Finally, I will eventually read all comments, but I don't have the time to respond to them on a consistent basis because I've got a few other demands on my time, like my "day job," my family, sleep, etc.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
November 18th, 2007 at 10:39 am
And we….will miss you. BUT, we are thankful you are there, surely that makes sense!
Amen
November 19th, 2007 at 9:41 am
That’s a hard adjustment to make. I’ve been both close and far to family. I guess they each have their own challenges.