Greetings my friends and Welcome to This Week’s SS Lesson Preview
This week’s lesson is entitled “Jesus Teaches Us to Love One Another”. If you have not already read the lesson text, I invite you to read it first before hearing this commentary. It is always better to form your own thoughts before listening to the thoughts of others. This text, like last week, is a continuation of part of what has come to be known as “the sermon on the mount” which consist of chapters 5 through 7 in Matthew. Parts of the sermon is also found in Luke and Mark.
As the lesson title indicates, Jesus focus is on our relationship to others. He gives three examples of situations where Christians should take note and modify their behavior according to the principles outlined in each case. The first part of the lesson address negative feelings toward other people. People often dislike other people even when they have not done anything to harm or hurt them. This is hating people without cause.
No one controls who their parent are, what they look like when born, where they live and many other factors they had or have no control over. Yet, people are often despised and hated over these types of things. As a result, people are often devalued and referred to in derogatory and demeaning ways that demonstrated their dislike and contempt for these people. Jesus warns that such feeling will get those who harbor such feeling in trouble.
Jesus also teaches in this lesson to settle disputes quickly to avoid them spiraling out of control. Avoid being stubborn and hard-hearted over disputes one may have with other. This can only lead to deeper resentment and hardships that should have and could have been avoided. He further states that our own overtures toward God are not accepted until we settle matters we know of involving disputes and hurtful feeling others have toward us that we can do something about.
Finally, He deals with marriage relationships. Christian marriage is designed to last a lifetime, but there are at least two factors that work against this kind of marriage. These two things are uncontrolled lust and selfishness. The only divinely sanctioned place for sexual intimacy is within marriage. Problems arise when people seek to fulfill this intimacy outside this arrangement.
“Hardness of the heart” refers to our own selfishness to have what we want regardless of what it does to others or how they feel or may feel it we leave them. Uncontrolled lust occurs when we are willing or looking to be intimate outside of marriage if presented with acceptable circumstances even if the circumstances haven’t presented themselves to us.
In conclusion, God calls upon us to demonstrate compassion, mercy and forgiveness toward others by allowing ourselves to suffer wrong, not judge people based on superficial things, not being too proud to say forgive me or I’m sorry and realizing that marriage is not all about us and what we want. This concludes my commentary for Sunday, July 7. Feel free to share your thoughts, comments and questions online in the comment section. Thanks for listening
Pastor Jordan
Thanks Pastor.