Fri, Jul 3rd - 9:55AM

The word of the day is:

Legalism

Matthew 5:17

¹⁷"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

               God’s laws, all of them, were given to help people love God with all their hearts and minds. Throughout the Israelites history, God’s laws had been misquoted, misapplied and misused. By Jesus’ time, religious leaders turned God’s laws into a bunch of rules that were really confusing. Jesus spoke of a new way to understand God’s laws, which was designed to bring the people back to God’s original purpose for the laws. Jesus did not speak against the laws itself but the misguiding and misapplying of those laws.

Challenge;

               We are prone to legalize everything about the laws of God, making life such a big sack of rules and regulations that we totally miss the whole point of the laws. Jesus’ point in the whole matter was that the most important law is to love. Love your neighbor as thyself, love your enemies, LOVE! How many times are we too quick to throw the book at someone without simply just showing them a little love? Love goes along way. The challenge is simple; put a neighbor, co-worker, friend, or family member that seems a little prone to break rules or start waves and simply show them a little love when they expect to be shown sternness, madness, anger, and even disappointment. That new found reaction will travel many miles in that person’s life, whether they admit it or not.