We are familiar with Paul's timeless words in 1 Corinthians 13, "Love...does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right." The NIV has it, "does not delight in evil." That simple word change may reveal a great deal about ourselves.

Humility is a quality of character and an attribute of Jesus' being that we can wear.

If we are brutally honest with ourselves, our response to the commands reveal the state of our spiritual condition.

To see though anyone else's eyes requires looking in the same direction they are...When Jesus said, "Behold,"...he was talking about another kind of vision--inner vision.

It would make an interesting experiment to attempt to identify the single principle of spirituality that the world vilifies, mocks, and rejects more than any other. Many options leap to mind: righteousness, authority, obedience, humility. Another possibility may surprise us--purity.

Of the many commands we have considered, which are those at the top of the list? Which are those that incorporate all the others into them? We immediately recognize Christlikeness as a recurring signature tune of the commands. Obviously, obedience is the doorway into the Christlikeness God desires to develop within us.

The question we are about to pose may at first glance seem simplistic, almost a cliche, like something from an old-fashioned salvation tract. Let us try, however, to listen to the words with fresh insight, and bring the question all the way inside. Let us see what it might have to tell us about ourselves. What are you living for?

There are many secondary aspects of God's will that are good, right and scriptural elements of spirituality with which we should be concerned. We do well to understand these, and to pray for God to develop them within us... But what is God's primary will for his people...What is it that God wants to do in your life, and in mine, above all other things?

Let us pose a probing question. The more personal layers of the onion we peel off in formulating an answer may reveal startling, even shocking, truths about ourselves. 

How much of our speech is subtly laced with the hidden desire to impress?

The final two commands of this section are intrinsically related, yet they point in opposite directions. Speech will always build up or tear down someone. These last two commands identify the two objects of that building or tearing--others or ourselves.