Daily Devotional Wednesday 25th November 2020
by William Moody
James 2:8–13
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
(ESV)
Loving your neighbour as you yourself would want to be loved is to be the golden rule to govern our lives (v8). Pray about making this a rule for today.
Favouritism acts against the golden rule and more than that James teaches it is sinful and breaking God’s law (v9). Favouritism is no minor fault but very serious in God’s eyes who knows how destructive it can be.
We’re not to consider breaking some areas of God’s law as unimportant. Breaking one aspect of the law means breaking the whole law (v10-11). We can’t think I keep many parts of the law and therefore I’m alright.
We must love and cherish the law by valuing it greatly. The law brings freedom (v12) and keeping it means living a life of beautiful mercy (v13).
The law can be summed up as loving god with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbour as ourselves. We need to be careful that we view keeping God’s law as something we’re reluctant about and a matter of mere duty. God’s law reveals the heart of Christ and guides us to how we can live in a Christ-like manner with love and mercy.
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