I played racquetball with a guy recently who believed in following Jesus’ Golden Rule – “Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12). He felt that this ideal was the essential expression of all religions. As I thought about this I realized that, while following the Golden Rule is important, Jesus also gave an even higher command: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind

The way of the cross is all about brokenness and humility before God and others because we know the inbred nature of sin, the inward deceitfulness of our own hearts, and the innate ability to deceive ourselves. We can fall too easily into the pattern of the proud Pharisee who prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). We might become so used to condemning the self-righteous attitude of

Though we might understand life and death in more scientific and medical terms today, in the minds of the ancient world, “the life of a creature is in the blood”. Thus in the Old Testament, God ordered and accepted animal sacrifices in making atonement for the sins of his people. “It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life” (Leviticus 17:11). This theme is carried into the New Testament through Christ’s atoning death for us. • Christ’s death reconciled us to God

The word “servant” sounds demeaning to us. A servant serves people above them to do work that is beneath those being served. Yet Jesus “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). The apostle Paul viewed himself as a servant of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1) and therefore a servant to others for Jesus’ sake (2 Corinthians 4:5). Jesus described servants in this way: “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the

Having worked in a factory that sawed oak and cherry wood designed for expensive French furniture, I know how irritating it is to get a speck of sawdust in my eye. Jesus asked, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3). A “speck of sawdust” is a speck or chip of anything dry – something tiny. A “plank” of wood is a weight-bearing board