- [Narrator] There are two relationships
that God considers most important.
You may say to yourself relationships
are not the most important subject we have to deal with,
however, Jesus himself said in Matthew chapter 22
verses 36-40, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
"with all thy heart and with all thy soul
"and with all they mind.
"This is the first and great commandment.
"And the second is like unto it.
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
"On these two commandments
"hang all the law and the prophets."
This lets us know that all the rules of the law
and all the amplification of those precepts
given by the prophets is covered on these two relationships.
We must understand that our relationship status with God
and neighbors will tell the quality of our lives
and even our after lives.
In this video we shall focus
on the second highest commandment,
which is our relationship with people.
If you make all the money in the world
and you fail in your relationships, then you are a failure.
While it is okay to accomplish our tasks,
God does not demand that you accomplish great things,
but he wants us to strive for an excellent relationship
with him and our neighbors.
In dealing with our neighbors,
Jesus gave us the golden rule:
Matthew chapter seven verse 12,
which summarizes the law and the prophets.
Matthew chapter seven verse 12 says
so in everything do to others
what you would have them to do to you.
For this sums up the law and the prophets.
Although it is not referred to
as the golden rule in the Bible,
this phrase is appropriately called the golden rule,
for it encompasses in its few words
the underlying and guiding principle
of all the law and the prophets.
The golden rule is commonly mistaken as merely being nice.
But it goes way above and beyond that.
So in everything do to others
what you would have them do to you,
means proactively surveying, appreciating,
loving and treating people with dignity
just like you would want others to do for you.
How do you love, serve, appreciate
and treat others with dignity?
First, what is love?
Corinthians chapter 13 verses 4-8 says
Love is patient, love is kind,
it does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud, it does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
That list is what we all want others to be to us.
We want people to be patient with us
and we want people to be kind and generous to us.
We appreciate when others are humble, when people honor us,
when people do not have duplicitous motives,
when people are slow to anger, that is love.
That is what we need to be in our relationships.
If you appreciate people treating you with kindness,
then the golden rule would imply
that we do the same for others.
Secondly, what is service?
Imagine this Earth is a business, like Walmart.
God is the manager and we are the customer service agents
that are taking care of the company.
When you are in a Walmart
and the customer service comes to help you out,
the service agent does not ask you for a tip.
Why?
Because the manager has got their wages covered.
In the business world
service is the anticipation of clients' needs.
And we are in the kingdom business
and our God pays those that work for him.
This Earth is our God's business.
We are the customer service agents.
Jesus says do.
What is interesting to note about the golden rule,
is that no other system has its equal,
unlike the common ethics of reciprocity said by everyone,
Jesus' command has a distinct but very vital difference.
Jesus does not want passivity.
Jesus gives us the go ahead to move with love.
You have the right to serve all men.
Do not feel restrained to express dignity,
love and kindness to people.
The phrase is do unto others.
So take action, do something.
Love is a verb, hence we need to act in love.
Serve, appreciate, love and treat people with dignity.
Concoct a plan to bless someone.
Think of something that would bring you joy
if a person did for you, then go ahead and do that.
And while you do this,
do not think that others will treat you the same.
The truth is that your efforts will even be fought against.
This might even mean others trying to take advantage of you.
You only feel that they are taking advantage of you
if you think that those people hold your rewards.
Colossians three, chapters 23-24 says,
whatever you do, work at it with all your heart
as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
since you know that you will receive
an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
Is is the Lord Christ you are serving.
You are working for God.
Do not limit your love.
If you want to limit your love,
only limit to the extent
that you want others to limit theirs to you.
It is a crazy love that will surprise the world.
Let people see your works and thank God
because the world knows
that no man will do this by his own will.
John chapter 13 verse 35 says, by this everyone will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
It is not by our rules,
strong rhetoric or accurate theology.
It is by our love.
It is by our love for one another
that every single human will know
that we are Christ' disciples.
We are God's need meters and customer service agents,
feeling empathy and fulfilling the needs of each other.
To show people dignity, let them feel felt,
no matter who they are.
People might not tell you, but we all never outgrow the need
of getting acknowledged.
We feel worthy when someone truly gives us their attention.
Do not wait for your feelings to lead you.
Obey the commandments and the feelings will follow.
Obeying the Christian imperative to love others
is a mark of a true Christian, John chapter 13 verse 35.
1st John chapter four, verse 20,
if someone says I love God and hates his brother,
he is a liar.
For the one who do not love his brother
whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
We may think you value your neighbors,
however, these four questions will show us
if we truly value our neighbors.
What is the last thing that goes through your head
when you wake up?
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
If we look at the log of your time,
what does it say that you love the most?
When you look at your checking account,
what does it say that you love the most?
The truth is that our lesser values tend to win
in all these cases because it takes less effort and courage.
I would like to encourage you to put time this year
to love your neighbors more.