Feb. 13, 2017
Scripture of the day:

John 13:34

• New Testament

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 

I chose this scripture because tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  I will share with you that Valentine's Day is my least favorite holiday.  When I was single I disliked it because it lead to an expectation or desire to be chosen to be liked by someone.  That is a lot of pressure for the giver and the receiver.  It leads to a lot of disappointment for both sides.  Now that I am married I don't like it any more.  Single people think married have it made because they have a person who already has chosen them.  The prospect for disappointment is still there because one or the other might forget.

For me my husband is doomed.  Don't get me wrong he has worked hard since we have been first dating to do things that are pleasing to me.  He gave me the best birthday ever during that time.  So it isn't really his fault.  He also does a really good job at finding the best cards.  I don't know how he does it but he always seems to get ones that say just the right thing.  Not withstanding these excellent qualities he still can't win.  Something in me has set me up to be stubbornly disappointed no matter what he does.  Maybe it is that I feel like I can never do for him like he has done for me.  Maybe it is a residual feeling from all the years past.  I don't know.

In any case I am not fond of this holiday. 

Putting aside my feelings for this holiday,  the above scripture lead me to wonder.  If Jesus gave us a new commandment then what was the old one.  I do know that when the original 10 commandments were handed out Moses and the Lord decided the people at that time were not ready for them so Moses went back for the ones we know today.  The first four are pretty much about loving God and respecting him.  Since those in Moses' time took 40 years to get the idea of what they needed to know I think they were a bit stubborn as well.  The rest are basic ways to act in society.  The Jesus comes and fulfills the laws and presents a new one.  This time love everyone like God loves us.  I would expect this to mean that the Lord saw some of us doing exactly that.  He also gave us some guidelines on how to get along with others.  It was a step up from the Law of Moses.  We as a people had progressed.  That is good. 

As a math teacher many times I have to review what students are supposed to do to answer questions, solve problems or complete steps.  It is not uncommon for students to say to me, "That is all I need to do?"  I reply yes.  Many people make math harder than they need to because they expect it to be.  Sometimes I think we do that in a life sense.  All he asks of us is to love one another as he loves us.  Sometimes we make that a whole lot harder than it needs to be.  Granted we must first know how much and in what way God loves us.  Second we need to apply it to others.  So it is like I first need to share with students how to solve math problems and then second the student needs to teach another.  If we can pass along the feelings of love to another and then they in turn do the same thing it begins to spread exponentially.  This video shows an example of what I mean: exponential love

I think I like this message a whole lot better than focusing on my valentine's day. 
Just a thought...