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Written by Ken Boa, a contemporary author and founder of Reflections Ministry.

In Matthew 7:12, Jesus gives us a powerful command that has become known as the Golden Rule…Many religions and cultures talk about treating others with kindness. But what Jesus says here is more than just another good rule for life. It’s a clear picture of what it means to live in the likeness of Christ, and it calls us to something deeper than we might expect. Many people are surprised to learn that Jesus’ version of the Golden Rule is actually unique. Other religions may offer similar-sounding advice, but they usually do so in the negative: “Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you.” That’s important, of course. But Jesus takes it a step further. He says, in effect, “Do to others what you would want them to do to you.” He’s not simply telling us to avoid doing harm—He’s calling us to actively do good. The Golden Rule invites us to step into the lives of others and love them with intention. Jesus even says this one command “is the Law and the Prophets.” In other words, it sums up the entire message of the Old Testament. Love, kindness, and self-giving toward others are not just side lessons in Scripture—they are at the heart of what God desires for His people. All of God’s commandments about how we should live in community with one another come together in this one sentence… Living out the Golden Rule in our daily lives is difficult. It means choosing patience when we are annoyed. It means showing kindness when we’ve been wronged. It means giving when it costs us something. And yet, this is what Jesus did for us. He loved us while we were still sinners. He gave Himself for us while we were still enemies of God. His love was proactive, sacrificial, and full of grace. That’s the kind of love we are called to show.

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. [Matthew 7:12]

Written by Laura Murray, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from her work “Holding Hope.”

Hope is grounded in the realities of our world. It does not avoid or ignore what is real nor is it bound only to what we can see. When we hope, we consider reality and open ourselves up to possibility. And this is quite the place to be! The poets of Scripture were familiar with both reality and possibility and the tension of holding them together. And through the Psalms they invite us into their humanity and ours. The Psalms overflow with images and adjectives that hold claims of who God is as well as the challenges and choices of life. The move back and forth between confidence and cries, delight and desire, hope in God and the harshness of the world. As the Psalmist shares with us we are invited to open ourselves up to the movements within us.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident. [Psalm 27:1-3]

Written by Laura Metzger from the Village Church.

Today we commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence by remembering the historic adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Its signers risked execution, loss of property, imprisonment, and violent retaliation should the Revolution fail. Yet the Declaration’s fundamental principles—human equality, unalienable God-given rights, the sovereignty of the people, and the right to alter or abolish oppressive government—were convictions they believed worth sacrificing for. The civic celebrations of this day remind us of sacrifice, courage, and the fragile gift of liberty. They invite both gratitude and sober reflection: gratitude for the freedoms and institutions that have enabled many to flourish, and sober reflection because no human endeavor or political experiment is perfect. As Christians, we may rightly celebrate our civic blessings, but we are also called to place them within the greater context of God’s kingdom. True blessing does not come ultimately from government, military strength, wealth, or political systems, but from recognizing God’s sovereignty, submitting to His will, and living according to His wisdom. Christ frees us from the slavery of sin and calls believers to be the salt and light of society. On this milestone day of celebration, we should ask whether our patriotism honors God. As flags wave and fireworks remind us that freedom is costly, we must also remember that the freedom of the Gospel was secured through the cross and is sustained through daily surrender to God and faithful service to others.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. [Psalm 33:12].

Written by the Fuller Center for Spiritual Formation.

Our current world situation is offering anything but steadiness. Whether it is a war across the world or a protest in our streets, we feel the unsteadiness of our world. Unsteadiness isn’t new, nor is it unique to our time. Unsteadiness, injustice, and the brokenness of our world are exactly what Jesus stepped into. He chose to be with us. His proximity reminds us of his love and care, his power reminds us of what is possible, and his perseverance shows us his love.  He has given us possibility, steadiness, and love through his presence in our world and in our lives. He gives us a place to stand through his goodness and grace. Because we stand on grace, our steadiness is solid. Our steadiness is Jesus, and it is in Jesus that we hope. He is the source of our hope and strength.  

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. [Romans 5:1-5]

Written by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, a contemporary professor and activist. This is an excerpt from her book “The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World.”

Radically ordinary hospitality—those who live it see strangers as neighbors and neighbors as family of God. They recoil at reducing a person to a category or a label. They see God’s image reflected in the eyes of every human being on earth…. Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs at all but as God’s gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom. They open doors; they seek out the underprivileged. They know that the gospel comes with a house key.

He [Jesus] said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” [Luke 14:12-14]

Written by Hannah Benson, a contemporary author and actress.

Dear Father, thank You for being patient with me, for being a loving Father whose heart I can trust even when I don’t understand Your plan. Forgive me for the times I’ve tried to take back what I’ve already surrendered to You, and for the moments I’ve let what I want cloud my view of what You have for me. Today, I’m not just surrendering my plans. I choose to trust You with what is already in Your hands. Help me to leave my story in Your hands, knowing that if You are writing it, it will be for my ultimate good and Your greatest glory. I am Yours. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. [Psalm 37:3-6]

Written by John Mark Comer, a contemporary pastor and author. This is an excerpt from his book “Practicing the Way.”

Love isn’t just something God does; it’s who he is. He can’t help but love; it’s his nature. Some of us are amazed that Jesus doesn’t hate us for all our flaws and failures, but that just betrays our distorted vision of God. It would be much harder for God to hate us than to love us, because love is who God is inside his deepest self. This is why God is Trinity (more on this coming soon): because God is love and love cannot exist outside relationship. Ergo, God must be a kind of relationship—one that is self-giving, others centered, humble, and joyful and full of blessing and goodwill. To quote Saint Augustine yet again, “God is (at once) Lover, Beloved, and Love itself.” He is the one who loves, the one who is loved, and the ultimate source of all love.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. [1 John 4:16]

Written by Dallas Willard(1935-2013), an American philosopher, speaker  and writer on spiritual formation. This is an excerpt from his book “Getting Love Right.”

Agape love is not desire, and not delight. Desire and feelings generally have a different nature than love, and if we don’t understand this clearly we will remain helpless to enter into love and to receive it into ourselves. Desire and feelings fall into the domain of impulse, not that of choice. They aim at their satisfaction, not at what is better and possibly best. Choice considers alternatives and weighs what is best. If its vision is broad enough, it will find what is good and right. If it is surrendered to God, united with his will, it will be able to do what is best. That of course is the nature of love. It seeks what is best. That is why it enables a person to refrain from hating their enemy, which they might very well want to do, and to seek what is good for them along with all others involved. This certainly does not mean you just give in and do what the enemy (or friend) wants or let them have their way. That might be the worst thing you could do to them. Love, then, is a condition of the will embedded in all fundamental dimensions of the human personality. It is not something you choose to do, but what you choose to be.

Put aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. [1 Peter 2:1]

Written by Frederick Buechner (1926-2022), an American writer and theologian.

For Christians, hope is ultimately hope in Christ. The hope that he really is what for centuries we have been claiming he is. The hope that despite the fact that sin and death still rule the world, he somehow conquered them. The hope that in him and through him all of us stand a chance of somehow conquering them too. The hope that at some unforeseeable time and in some unimaginable way he will return with healing in his wings.

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, [Romans 15:8]

Written by Ken Boa, a contemporary author and founder of Reflections Ministry.

A life of peace is a life shaped by the fruit of the Spirit. It is marked by gentleness, patience, humility, and love. But it is also marked by courage, conviction, and truth. As God’s children, we are to be peacemakers in every sense—healing what is broken, restoring what is lost, and bearing witness to the reconciliation we ourselves have received.  This kind of peace is not cheap. It is not always easy. But it is worth everything.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. [Matthew 5:9]