Grains of Sand

I'm not naive enough to expect regenerate behaviour from the unregenerate, but those who call themselves "Christians?" This post won't take long. It will be a simple question for all of us who claim to have a personal relationship with Christ through faith, and who say that we are committed to following Him. Matthew 7:12 says: " So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. " Everything. Now the question: What do I need to do today to make Jesus' teaching a reality in my life? What a different world it would be if believers, from whom regenerate behaviour IS expected, lived out this truth.

Most of the time we ignore this addition to The Lord's Prayer as we find it in Matthew. It's an uncomfortable codicil that we'd rather not deal with. " Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, you heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sin, your Father will not forgive your sins. " —Matthew 6:12-15 (Emphasis mine) Masticating these verses would take much more space that this short blog post can give, but here's the gist. Placement is everything here; notice how the phrase about temptation and being delivered from Satan is tucked between the two statements on forgiveness, like peanut butter between two slices of bread. We ask God for forgiveness, but while we are unwilling to forgive whatever anyone else has done to us, the evil one rejoices—we have succumbed to the temptation to refuse to d...