Friday, February 22, 2019

Should you memorize scripture or treat others well?

Here is a meme I saw on Facebook today with my response.

Image may contain: meme and food, text that says 'JESUS DOESN'T CARE HOW MANY BIBLE VERSES YOU HAVE MEMORIZED. He CARES ABOUT HOW YOU TREAT PEOPLE.'
Well, yes and no. Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.

God's word helps us to define what love is. If we know the Bible and do not live it we are hypocrites, but if say we love God and do not know what He has said, we are not really following or loving God. Rather we end up making God in our own image and then do whatever we want, which often leads to justifying selfish and unloving behavior.

Matthew 22:37-40, He said the him, "You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind. This is great and first commandment. A second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." 

The great Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says,

Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your might. And these word that I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit down, and as you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. They shall be a sign on your hands, and as a frontlet between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 say, "16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Scripture itself teaches us that our very ability to treat others well is impacted by whether we encounter God through His Word. Now if it is just dead words or a club to beat others with then we are just Pharisees, who don't get the heart of the law. But I learned about that from the stories of Jesus in the Bible who had the harshest words for the legalists. I also learned about the sacrificial love of God, and how he calls us to become like Jesus and then shows us a picture of what that life looks like in the life and death of Jesus.

I learn about how God wants a relationship with me and that Jesus died to provide that way to have that relationship.

I learn that I am a sinner and that I am selfish and need to change, but that I can only do that with God's help.

So at the heart of what I am saying is, that it is not either learning scripture or treating people well, but rather a because you learned scripture and took it seriously, you know how to and are impowered to and want to treat others well.

The God of the universe has spoken and wants you to hear. Why would you not take time to listen? How could you not be transformed if you heard Him?