City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength…Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-31

Exegesis

C.S. Lewis’s speeches, which became the book Mere Christianity, began during World War II. Their war was right at home, and all the horrors that accompanied it, including but not limited to financial struggles, going off to battle, worrying about never seeing their loved ones, and wondering where God is, is quite similar to our situation.      

There’s no doubt we want matters to change for the better. Having a sense of right and wrong is essential to affecting positive change. But what is right? And what is wrong? Most people want to do what’s right, but what is right to one person might seem completely wrong to another, especially if they are of different religions. Christ-followers battle this confusion with Absolute Truth: The Bible.

The early Christians in Rome knew “Right and Wrong”, but did wrong anyway. They did not glorify God or thank Him, instead worshipped idols, then evil entered their hearts (Romans 1:21-23). Even the Gentiles had a sense of right and wrong (Romans 2:14-15). But the Gentiles were ignorant, the Christians who practiced wrong were foolish. C.S. Lewis says on page 7, “…we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people.” But if one is ignorant, it is our responsibility to show them what is right.

How do we do that? Jesus summed up Right in Mark 12:30-31:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength…Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Application

Love God, love others. That’s what right is. So simple yet so difficult. But this is how we will change the world for the better.

Prayer

Dearest Jesus, thank You for loving me even when I am ignorant and especially when I am foolish. Help me to be wise in Your eyes and to do what is right, to love You and love others. In Your Most Precious Name I pray, Amen.