WINNING HAND
Mark 12:30-31
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Teachers of the Law, Sanhedrin, grilled Jesus: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Have you ever been grilled with trick questions trying to expose a flaw in your speech or actions?
Like the Sanhedrin could trick the Son of God!
I’d love to see a smirk on Jesus’ face. He could see inside hearts full of hate and deception as they formed innocent-sounding questions for Jesus to answer.
People are created wonderfully complex. But we are also flawed. No one decides to fix these flaws, perfecting our own lives. No self-help book teaches transformation. Transforming lives is God’s work.
Who we are shapes our identity—flaws and all.
Relationships with people give life purpose and identity. Too many haven’t a clue to their true identity.
Life isn’t defined by accomplishments. Identities aren’t rooted in popularity.
Lives are defined by how well we love. Believers’ identity is in Christ.
Three things obstruct people from loving as God intended: imperfection, sin and fear. These problems challenge even the most determined. But for those who’re determined to claim God’s best, Jesus can flip losing to winning hands.
Imperfection is a fact of life. No one is perfect. But God’s love is perfect. Jesus is perfect. Eden was perfect. When sin broke the perfect relationship between God and people, sin became our excuse for not loving as God intended. The longer and farther our brokenness is from God, the more fearful we become.
People crave intimacy. But we fear being vulnerable. We crave acceptance but fear rejection.
Take Home Nugget
Great news: although no one has a say in the hand we’re dealt, we can choose Jesus. We can let Jesus shuffle the cards and deal us a new hand—a winning hand! All that takes is giving Jesus our cards.
Giving Jesus our cards means giving Him authority over our relationships. We’re to love our family, friends, acquaintances and even our enemies. We’re to be patient and gentle with the unlovable. We’re to speak kindly to those who hate us. We’re to offer our coat to whomever steals our jacket.
We’re accountable for how we love from this day on. If we obey Jesus’ most important command to love God with our whole selves, loving others how we love ourselves must also happen by choice.
Would you dare not obey Jesus’ add-on command?
Deal me a winning hand Lord. With Your help I promise to love others like Christ loves me—just as You intended! Amen.
Adapted from “How Well Do You Love?” Rev. Rick Warren. April 16, 2016. www.rickwarren.org. Christianity.com. Daily Inspirations.
J.D. Griffith
Here’s another eBook by J.D. Griffith:
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