Rom 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Love works no ill to his neighbor.
No ill- no wrong, no harm, nothing bad.
We understand this don't we? When we are hurt we don't feel loved at all, even on a base level. Even the God-less who claim they can love and long to be loved don't feel very loved when they are hurt by the one who supposedly loves them. Love works no ill to his neighbor. In essence love works no ill to anyone. It doesn't say love works no ill to his family members. It doesn't say love works no ill to chosen friends. Love doesn't hurt any one.
Have you hurt anyone recently? I'm not talking about punching them, but that too. Have you hurt anyone at all in ANY way recently. Has a harsh word cut someone to the quick? Has a sharp look caused someone pain? You know what I'm talking about. We hurt each other more often in words than any other way. A person who can claim they haven't physically laid a hand on anyone ever might be the same person whose caustic nature has beaten down people left and right, in fact they could claim the World Champion Title winning many a verbal fighting match. Also, don't MANY people take pride in their ability to 'match wits' with another and come out on top? Isn't there a sense of superiority when we get our points, our opinions, our beliefs across even at the expense of another? Some people we call- contrary. We say they have a contrary nature- always being contrary no matter what is said. They don't see themselves as contrary but rather as people willing to stand up for themselves and their own beliefs and opinions- believing their beliefs and opinions are of course superior to another's simply because it's THEIR way of thinking and their contrary nature wants them to argue a point until they come across as being right or… until someone is hurt…namely them because they can't get others to validate their belief, their opinion as being something shared. People with contrary natures hurt others and more often than not they bring hurt upon themselves.
Love works no ill to his neighbor.
NO ILL.
We might not be out there physically bullying people but we could be working a lot of ill in other ways.
Often by standing up for our own belief, our own opinion we do so and pat ourselves on the back uncaring that we've hurt others. Did Jesus do that? Jesus singled out NO person and berated them mercilessly. Jesus singled out wrongs and without any flowery words made known His opinion on those wrongs and the wrongdoers as a whole, but He did not emotionally, mentally, and certainly not physically beat down anyone! Jesus didn't take ANY pleasure in having to even berate the system, the groups of wrongdoers. His anger didn't bring Him any joy, any sense of superiority, not a bit of happiness at all. His anger was heartfelt and sorrowful, it PAINED HIM to feel the anger He felt. He hurt, but hurt NO other. He was truly like a Lamb led to the slaughter- meek, willing, putting up no fight. He had EVERY right to fight to get His point across HE WAS AS RIGHT AS RIGHT CAN BE- in all things! But He didn't fight. He didn't take on ANY sense of self-righteousness, not one bit. Where we often fight verbally to the bitter end- trying to get our point across, trying to come out able to say we were on the right side of the matter- He didn't spend a single moment at all, in all His life, defending His own opinion. Why? In part because He lived NOT for Himself but for who? For God the Father- revealing the Father to everyone. He lived for OTHERS not for Himself in any way whatsoever.
Jesus worked NO ILL to His neighbors- none! Jesus was SELFLESS, completely SELFLESS and completely GOD-CENTERED.
The next time someone contradicts you and your first reaction is to defend yourself, STOP! Don't do it! Just don't do it! It won't be easy, it'll feel like somehow you lost the fight, like you lost getting YOUR opinion across but that's a GOOD thing! We aren't supposed to live to win anyone over to OUR opinions, not in any way, shape, or form. We aren't supposed to live to be considered by all to be in the 'right' of things. We are to live for our Savior, with our Savior as our example. If you find yourself in a contrary situation ask yourself how Jesus would have handled the situation. Seriously- that What Would Jesus Do bumper sticker is a very wise thing, right? WWJD- What Would Jesus Do. If we ask ourselves that question and then answer it by fighting to get our opinions across trying to justify it by saying Jesus would stand up for what's right- you need to read your Bible and realize that while yes, Jesus stood up for all that was right, He did not bicker and fight doing so. HE WORKED NO ILL towards His neighbors, NOT ONE ILL. But He sure took a lot of ill from His neighbors didn't He?
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
This was said after He was rebuked by Peter-
Mat 16:20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
Mat 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Mat 16:22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Mat 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
He turned to Peter and said- Get thee behind me, Satan- thou are an offence to me- because you savor things that aren't of God- but those of men.
All Peter did was tell Jesus that what He was telling them of His coming abuse and ultimate death shouldn't be allowed to happen. Peter didn't want Jesus to suffer- Peter knew He was the Messiah and INNOCENT of all wrong doing and only wrong doers should suffer-- men's thinking. The innocent should stand up and fight for themselves-- men's thinking. Jesus was right as right can get and deserved NO suffering, NO abuse- men's thinking.
Jesus was revealing God's thinking, the things of God, to us. Peter's rebuke of Jesus resulted in being told that He- Peter- was acting like SATAN! That Peter was an offence to Jesus! Because Peter's thinking was that of sinful man's thinking and not of God's. God's way works NO ill under any circumstance to others. A person might want to point out that Jesus' response certainly had to HURT Peter so Jesus did hurt others. Jesus worked NO ILL towards Peter, none. Jesus laid bare a fact, He did not berated Peter to drive His point home. Jesus revealed to Peter a truth and He did so out of LOVE without any self-serving, Jesus took NO pleasure in saying what He'd said, none. After He spoke those revealing words to Peter he said this…
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
If ANY MAN will come after me, let him DENY himself, and TAKE UP his CROSS and follow me.
Deny himself- be selfless! And in being selfless you most assuredly take up a cross because you live in a world that only knows selfishness, a world that understands SELF preservation at all costs, a world that understands selfishness as being NORMAL and UNDERSTANDABLE. We are to take up a cross against SELF! The most selfless act in existence was that of Jesus taking up His cross. We have to DENY ourselves! We have to become selfless and God-centered! That cross represents selflessness as much as it represents sacrifice because selflessness is LOVE.
Rom 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
LOVE works NO ill to his neighbor.
LOVE is the fulfilling of the LAW.
The law points to selflessness.
The law points to our LOVING GOD and LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS- selflessness!
Others FIRST, and not just to be polite - not to reflect on YOUR ability to be polite, but because this is LOVE.
By the grace of our selfless Savior may we truly become selfless like Him!
Amen.
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