Week 27 Daily Dose of Love
#183 (7/2)
The Greatest
Commandment
Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them,
a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like
it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets.”
Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he
answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered,
“The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall 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, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides
him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the
strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole
burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You
are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.
Jesus makes it absolutely clear
that love is the most important thing in the world. The commandments to love God and each other are intricately intertwined.
God is the source of love and we must rely on his help in order to love and forgive those who have hurt us.
We also live in a world that feeds our impulses as it tempts us to put our own wants and desires ahead of our relationship
with God. Loving each other supports our effort to be more open to God’s love. God’s love is a thread that runs through our hearts that we then weave through the hearts
of others to create a tapestry that honors and glorifies our creator.
Reflection/Discussion:
What priorities, addictions, or attachments are most
likely to crowd out love in our daily decisions and activities?
Principles of Love:
Commitment; Compassion
Pray Through the Day:
Help us to love
When our will is weak
#184 (7/3)
Parable of
the Good Samaritan
Luke 10:25-37
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must
I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read
there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he
said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
But
wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A
man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away,
leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed
by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other
side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought
him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper,
and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which
of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He
said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
God’s love engages us with
life and connects us with all of humanity. There are lots of good, logical reasons to pass by and ignore
those who are suffering. But each of these reasons closes our heart to someone who was created by God. Love requires responsibility
and accountability. It is impossible to fully love God when we disregard the suffering of those he loves.
Martin Luther King wrote, “One of the greatest tragedies of man’s long trek along the highway of history
has been the limiting of neighborly concern to tribe, race, class, or nation.” In
a sermon on the Good Samaritan, Dr. King said, “The real tragedy of such narrow provincialism is that we see people
as entities or merely as things. Too seldom do we see people in their true humanness.
A spiritual myopia limits our vision to external accidents. We see men as Jews or Gentiles, Catholics
or Protestants, Chinese or American, Negroes or whites. We fail to think of them as fellow human beings
made from the same basic stuff as we, molded in the same divine image. The priest and the Levite saw only
a bleeding body, not a human being like themselves. But the Good Samaritan will always remind us to remove
the cataracts of provincialism from our spiritual eyes and see men as men. If the Samaritan had considered
the wounded man as a Jew first, he would not have stopped, for the Jews and the Samaritans had no dealings. He
saw him as a human being first, who was a Jew only by accident. The good neighbor looks beyond the external
accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and therefore brothers.”
Reflection/Discussion:
Who do we “pass by” that is suffering?
Principles of Love:
Compassion; Unity; Commitment; Decision; Acceptance
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts
To your creation
#185
(7/4)
Mary and Martha
Luke 10:38-42
Now
as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But
Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left
me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha,
Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which
will not be taken away from her.”
Our world easily fills our lives to overflowing with things to do, drowning our hearts in
a rushing stream of demands and diversions. Martha is distracted by “many tasks” which keeps
her from recognizing what is most important (while making her less efficient and more frustrated). It is not possible to be loving when we are “distracted by ... many tasks.”
We cannot love when we are trying to do more than one thing at a time or when we are thinking about everything else
we need to do while struggling with the task at hand.
We don’t need to drop everything and sit at Jesus’ feet in order to love.
It is possible to get our work done with love. This is not multitasking.
It is the attitude and openness that we bring to our work that makes it an act of love. Incorporating love into our daily lives requires balance, openness, and a clear recognition
of what is most important in life.
Reflection/Discussion:
When are we most likely to get distracted from God’s love?
Principles of Love:
Opening; Vision; Decision
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts
To your love
#186
(7/5)
Friend at Midnight
Luke 11:5-8
And
he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend
me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And
he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot
get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because
he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
Persistence in love always pays off. Love touches the deepest nature of who we are, but because
of worldly obstacles, it requires consistent patience, a quiet confidence, the ability to recognize opportunities, and the
forbearance to allow seeds we plant to take root and grow.
Instant gratification is a priority of the false self. Love allows
us to gradually open our hearts and deepen our understanding of the true needs of another. Even if that
person never responds to our efforts, we have enlarged our capacity to love and become closer to God.
Reflection/Discussion:
How can we develop and expand our capacity
to persevere in love?
Principles of Love:
Commitment
Pray Through the Day:
Help us to love
When our will is weak
#187 (7/6)
True Blessedness
Luke 11:27-28
While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised
her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” But
he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”
Jesus tells us that being blessed is based
on the present rather than the past. What matters is having a heart open to God’s love.
We cannot rest on our laurels where love is concerned. It is what we are doing in this moment that
opens us to God’s blessing. Jesus
challenges us to continually deepen our understanding of the word of God as we strengthen our commitment to him by living
his love in our daily life.
Reflection/Discussion:
How can we keep from getting distracted by our accomplishments?
Principles of Love:
Opening; Humility
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts
To your love
#188
(7/7)
Warning Against Avarice
Luke 12:13-15
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance
with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”
And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist
in the abundance of possessions.”
Greed is a classic heart closer. It places our own self-interest
against the needs and interests of others, which makes it the opposite of love. Love recognizes the abundance
of God’s creation. It helps us realize that there is more than enough for everybody to meet current
needs and sustain our future if we simply learn to work together and share. In an interconnected global economy, shortages exist only to the extent that there is greed. Starvation
exists only to the extent that we don’t acknowledge our common heritage as God’s children and share our resources.
Reflection/Discussion:
What pulls us toward greed?
Principles of Love:
Unity; Compassion; Vision
Pray Through the Day:
Bring us together
In your love
#189
(7/8)
Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12:16-21
Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich
man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store
my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones,
and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods
laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This
very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So
it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
This is a hard message for a consumer
driven culture where the accumulation of treasures is the driving force of our economy. Being “rich
toward God” means sharing his love and our resources so that others have the same opportunities as we do. The rich man in the parable was greatly blessed but he forgot where his blessings came from.
He didn’t understand the meaning and purpose of life. Love can’t be stored, secured,
or saved for the future. Love is always fresh. Each day there is a new harvest that provides all we need.
Reflection/Discussion:
What earthly treasures tend to distract
and divert us from being open to God’s love?
Principles of Love:
Nature; Vision;
Pray Through the Day:
We were created
From God’s love
