Today’s passage: Luke 10:25-37
Helpful thoughts:
- Questions are better than accusations when you genuinely desire to learn before coming to a conclusion. Questions asked to corner someone and point out their faults is misleading and manipulative.
- Jesus’ method of confronting this was simply to ask the “asker” to answer their own question.
- A perfect love for God and our neighbors would result in perfect righteousness. Only Jesus has accomplished this!
- The lawyer was an “expert” in the law…but that expertise was utilized not to grow in humility and love, but instead to reinterpret and redefine terms in order to self-justify. This is our natural condition.
- The lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?” (Who do I HAVE to love?) Jesus answered with this different question, “Who was a neighbor to the man?” (Who CAN you love?)
Questions to consider:
- How do you use questions in your conversations? How should love of God and love of your neighbor shape the way you ask questions?
- Why was the lawyers interpretation of the law and the greatest commandments anti-gospel and anti-love? What was he hoping to accomplish? Who was he trying to protect and endorse?
- How does Christ’s imputed righteousness free you and enable you to genuinely love God and love people? How does knowing that you already measure up to God’s standard in Christ enable you to give of yourself for the benefit of others without regard for what’s in it for you?