I’d like to start a new feature here: my Rules for Life. I’ll post two or three a week starting today.
- Rule #1: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength.
- Rule #2: Love your neighbor as yourself.
These two don’t need a whole lot of explanation. The main thing I want to point out is the order and the separation. Many people in the church today forget that loving God is the greatest commandment, “and the second is like it.” That means we must love our neighbors without compromising our fidelity to God.
The problem with the first two rules is that they’re just nebulous ideas that sit in the back of my mind. They’re always with me, but they don’t provide a lot of specifics. But that’s part of the beauty of them as well. They’re always there, and they have no limits.
We often talk about ways to glorify God and worship Him outside of church services. TheResurgence.com recently posted audio in their “Continuous Worship” series with the topic “Is ‘worship’ the only word for worship?” It’s something that I’ve struggled with. We’ve put our worship of God into the church box, and have excluded it from the rest of our lives for so long, that when we realize we need to set it free, we don’t know how.
But what if we spent our days knowing that the most important thing we could do with every minute is to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength? That sounds like worship to me. And if we understand worship that way it will begin to seep into the other parts of our lives.
Rule #2 suffers from some misinterpretation in our culture. When I hear this phrase most often used, it’s either for some kind of charity or social service (good thing), or to justify allowing a fellow or new believer to continue in their sin (bad thing). In the latter case it totally rests on what you mean by “love”. Is it to do the things that will make the person happiest in the moment? No, it’s to do the things that will lead them closest to Christ. Allowing someone to live peacefully in their sin is not love, it’s neglect.
- Rule #3: Do unto others as as you would have them do unto you.
- Rule #4: Do not do unto others as you would have them not do unto you.
Rule #3 is easily recognizable, and I’ve come to know that #4 is actually a Confucian saying. I thought I made it up. I guess I’m not that original after all. These are pretty simple to work with, though I find #4 a little easier. For example, I don’t like it when people cut me off (in traffic or in conversation), so I avoid doing it to others. Pretty simple right? The hard part is continuing to treat others well when it feels like no one is treating you well. Unfortunately what goes around doesn’t always come around, so be prepared to give and not receive.
Rule #5 coming soon…
Technorati Tags: christ, Church, god, love, rules for life
2 responses so far...
I hadn’t heard of Edwards resolutions before. I’m not Reformed, but the more I read from him, the more I like him.
Honestly, I was talking to a friend one day, and she was telling me about something she did, and the consequences, and I said, “See, you broke rule #5.” That’s how it was born. I started fleshing them out for a mentoring session with one of the teens at my old church, and it seemed like something that I should keep thinking about.
I’m glad it piqued your interest, and I hope you keep up as I add to this list.
Blogs4God
Charles,
I’ve been lurking for about a month and was intrigued with this post. I wonder what made you begin to come up with rules for life? I was reminded of the resolutions of Jonathon Edwards when I read your post. Is that the sort of thing you’re going for?