A word of the Lord came to me. It said to be extra polite. You know, after pondering the significance, I realized it could have come only from the Lord. Maybe He told you something else, but this is what He told me.
There are two kinds of Words in our Christian doctrine, the written and everlasting Logos (as written in the Bible) and the situational, instructive Rhema (for individual).
Before we can consider any wild notion we must see if the notion perfectly aligns with the whole message of the New Testament. Let’s discard every thought that is to the contrary. I am positive Jesus would never ask a follower to do or say anything that the most considerate, wise friend wouldn’t ask.
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. — Matthew 22:37-40 (KJV)
In Matthew 22, Pharisees ask Jesus about the greatest commandment in the Law. Jesus gives them two, on which the whole Law and the writings of the Prophets depend. The first is, ”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” The second is, ”You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
These two commandments go together and complement each other like two wings of an airplane. In order for the plane to get off the ground and not crash it must have both.
Mind your own business
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. — Romans 13:10 (KJV)
Love does no wrong to a neighbor, Paul explains in Romans 13:10. Love never hurts anyone. How could this be? This is the Godly form of love, known by the Greek word Agape, which is not an emotion. This very unselfish, considerate and non-intrusive love is the fulfilment of the Law.
There are four words to describe different loves. There is Eros, the romantic love between a man and a woman. There is Storge, the sympathy between family members. There is Phileo, for the brotherhood. Then there is Agape, the highest form of love.
Only Agape is for everyone and does not take special liberties or break the protocol when applied carelessly or for the wrong people. It is the protocol and the marching order for the whole World according to the Word of the Lord.
We could certainly go wrong by adding too much or something extra to the other kind of loves, but we can never have too much Agape. Being polite is indistinguishable from Agape. Being polite is not all there is to Agape, but without being polite, without proper consideration for the protocol of the moment, we are not doing it right.
Chew with your mouth closed. Walk on the right side of the pavement. Open and hold the door for others in close proximity. Be punctual. Respect the elderly. These are the little things in life that make all the difference.
Being extra polite does not mean being a wuss. It is not a warning of any kind, either. There’s a whole lot of things it is not, but I am here to concentrate on the positives.
Samson was a strong man, who even though he was blessed, he did many things wrong even before he met Delilah. If we trace back his steps in Judges 14 we can see a lot of the mistakes had to do with disobeying his parents’ will. There were so many little mistakes, they became a pattern; for instance, as a Nazarite Samson was not supposed to be in contact with corpses or graves, but there he is in Judges 14:8-9 taking honey from a swarm of bees nesting in a lion carcase, and even giving that honey for his parents to eat without telling them where it had come from.
Lucky for Samson, and all of us who have failed in various ways, his name is counted among heroes who had faith in Hebrews 11:31-33. Samson is a friend I would call at time of war to utterly destroy the enemy, but in peace I would rather learn from Solomon. This blog is named in hope to recapture some of that Wisdom!
24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. 25 As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. — Proverbs 10:24-25 (KJV)
In Proverbs 10:24, Solomon says that what the wicked fear will come upon them, but the desires of the righteous will be granted. So let us not be motivated by fear. Being perceptive and considerate about the things we do in daily day life is reward in itself. The best part is once we get it down pat, it’s who we are.
God bless you, Dear Reader.
[This article was originally published on wisemansolomon.com on February 1, 2020.]
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