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RELATIONSHIPS

When Jesus was asked what the most important law in the Bible was, He responded with two answers: “love God and love others.” He went on to say that EVERYTHING the Bible tells us to do or not do can be boiled down into those two guiding principles. In other words, the way we treat other people as Christ followers is a really big deal. We've already established how our relationship with God has been made right by our faith in Jesus, and loving Him is pretty straightforward most of the time. But, why is it so important to love people as well? I mean, why does God care so much? 

The reason Jesus spent so much time teaching about how to treat the people around us is because we are now His representatives to the world around us. As Christ followers, the way we treat other people paints a picture for them of what Jesus is actually like. That may sound like an awful lot of responsibility, but frankly – it is. It is not just our job to tell people about Jesus or invite them to church (I mean, we should do those things, for sure), but we are also given the charge to display for others who Jesus is. By the way we treat other people, they should notice something is different about us and be drawn to it. Because ultimately, if Jesus is living within us, people should be able to see that and they should be drawn to Him because of the way they see us living. That may sound overly philosophical or difficult to do, but it’s really as simple as putting other people first, meeting their needs whenever possible, and ultimately trying to treat people the way you think Jesus would if He were walking around in your shoes. That’s it!

So, after you read these verses, spend a couple minute thinking about the people you encounter almost every day (friends, family, classmates), and try to come up with as many simple and practical ways you could show Jesus to them by your words and actions. Then ask God for opportunities to follow through with that.