Today Daily Devotional

What do you desire? Surely some good things: a tasty, hearty meal; a satisfying, successful job; good times with friends, and so on. But maybe you also have some sinful desires: sex outside of marriage, vengeance on your enemies, wanting things that you can’t have because they belong to others.

Because we are sinners, we have many desires that are not good. This is why we need the law—to show us what is good and what is bad, or evil. But this is not the goal of the law. The final goal of the law is to lead us to Christ. While the law condemns those who break it, the law also directs sinners toward Christ.

Christ obeyed the law perfectly and thus fulfilled it. And because he gave up his life for ours, we can be credited with Christ’s righteousness, standing before God with a clean record for Jesus’ sake.

Our desire then is no longer just to obey the law but to love Christ. What we now desire is to have full life with him for­ever. We desire to be with Christ and to be like him. The end goal of the law is to direct our desires so that, by the power of the Spirit of God, we live by the love of God.

The sum of the law—love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength—directs our desires. And when we find the object of our greatest desire, we find peace with God.

I met a man who ended many of his criticisms by saying, “And that’s the way it is!” He apparently had great confidence in his own discernment. And if you challenged him, he would say, “But it’s true!”

But if he spoke the truth, it was not spoken in love. Instead, he used truth as a blow-torch, scorching anyone who crossed his path.

In some ways he might have kept God’s law by telling the truth, but he broke it when he did not speak in love.

So how do we know if we are speaking the truth in love?

Here are some considerations to make before speaking:

Is it helpful? Will saying this bring about good?

Is it necessary? Must I say this?

Is it loving? Will it build someone up in Christ?

These are the goals we should seek. The apostle Paul urges us to “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace,” “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity.” Paul sees words in a way like construction materials that can be used in building—so that we can build a house of peace. Only with such a goal in mind may we speak the truth.

At first this command was likely meant for courtrooms. But it applies to everything we say or write down. All of our communication must be true, not false.

Psychologists have observed that we lie in various ways. Some of our lies seem relatively harmless, or even ­polite: “Yes, I’m working on that project; it’ll be done soon,” or “That outfit looks nice on you.” Or how about “It’s low-fat” (but high in sugar).

Today anything we post on the internet can be spread worldwide. This is a first in history. So it is profoundly important that Christians be known for truth-telling online.

Unfortunately, there is often little difference between the speech of Christians and non-Christians. Non-Christians and Christians alike have raised groundless conspiracy theories. They say hateful things about public figures. They delve into vats of moral swill. This should not be.

There is no place where a Christian should promote falsehood. If you think you are supporting a good cause while turning a blind eye to a few lies here and there, you are wrong. False is false, evil is evil, and wrong is wrong; the cause is not more important than truth. The end does not justify the means.

Our neighbors are made in the image of God, just like you and me. How can we claim to love our neighbors, as God commands, if we cut them down and lie about them?

I have never felt angrier than when someone stole from me. How could they take what was mine?!

My anger reflects that I have respect and honor for myself and for the things I have.

Every person deserves honor and respect because we are all made in the image of God. We also have property and ideas that should be honored. People make promises to us, and they should honor those promises.

We show honor when we credit others with what they are due. They are due the things they have rightfully earned. If they have earned a good reputation in their field, we need to give them credit. If they have earned a high position, we need to honor that. If they have performed a good deed, we need to thank them.

Belittling or denying the good that others do is a form of stealing. If we do that, we have taken away the honor they deserve.

God is the original owner of all good things. He gives a variety of good things to various people.

If we fail to recognize those good things in others, or if we take or destroy them, we are undoing God’s design for creation.

How could we take what is God’s or what God has given to others?

Reflecting on Jesus’ words here, people have sometimes thought, “If I am going to be flagged for adultery by lusting after someone, why not have some fun and go ahead with adultery, all at the same cost?”

But that was not Jesus’ point. Lust is a vice. Vices are evil tendencies and desires. They are wrong and must be combatted daily. Vices are sinful motives, and when we let them control our hearts and minds, they lead us to sin. And the sins they lead to cause greater harm than the vice itself.

So lust is a vice that can lead to the far more sinful act of adultery. Adultery is far worse because it has worse conse­quences. Thinking about having sex with someone may have a negative effect on the character of the one who is lusting. But any nonmarital sex affects the sinner and others deeply. It has the potential to break a marriage, or to make a future marriage begin with suspicion.

Not all sins are the same. Some have minor consequences; others have far greater consequences.

Jesus was hardly suggesting that since we have broken one law, we should feel free to break more. He was showing that the desire that leads to sin is itself sinful and needs to be addressed.

We have a natural tendency to hate or ignore God and our neighbor. We tell ourselves we are good people. But our selfishness and anger lie just below the surface. Anger often erupts in violent, hateful words and actions. If we don’t seem angry, it may just mean that our anger has not yet reached its boiling point or had an opportunity to erupt. In fact, we may be seething with inner anger.

Strictly following the command “You shall not murder” is not enough to overcome hatred. We must address the source of that sin. If we keep our anger from boiling over, we do well. But to gain mastery over anger, we need love. And showing love, especially toward people who have hurt us, does not come naturally. In fact, only the supernatural love of Christ can overcome the hatred we may feel for our enemies.

When the Romans and the Jews hatefully killed Jesus Christ, he could have called on God’s army of angels to stop and destroy them (see Matthew 26:52-53). But instead he responded in love, asking the Father to forgive them. When Jesus gave himself for us on the cross, he certainly obeyed the law—do not kill. But he did far more: he fulfilled the greatest law of love.

This command was not written for little children. They have no choice but to honor their parents. It was written to younger adults who lived with older generations. Living together in a household with three or more generations was common in ancient Israel, as it is in some societies today.

How do you treat your elders, especially your parents? I have seen some young people act worse toward their parents than they do toward anyone else. They complain that they deserve more and nicer things. They berate their parents because they aren’t up on the latest technology or trends. They throw a fit when asked to do a simple household task. When another adult says, “You sure have a wonderful child,” the parent is stunned.

Our best and our worst be­havior comes out in our families. That is why this reminder is necessary. Show honor to your parents. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t as smart or capable as they once were. It doesn’t matter that they, like everyone else, have flaws. The criterion for honor is the fact that they are your parents.

Honoring your parents will bring blessing. This command closes with a promise, saying that God gives us life and blessing for honoring the parents he has given us.

In Deuteronomy 5 the Ten Com­mandments are repeated (see Exodus 20), and here the command about the Sabbath day points out that God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt.

Here we are reminded again that our time is a gift from God. We are also reminded that people such as the king of Egypt, or perhaps our employers, must not claim they own all of our time.

In addition, this law prohibits us from becoming taskmasters. We must not demand more time from others than we are allowed. This includes our family members, our employees, and even work animals. No one, and certainly not a Christian, may commandeer the time of others. God liberated his people from slavery in the past, and he continues to liberate his people today. One day a week is to be dedicated to God, our liberator.

This command shows that God loves all people—and animals too. It doesn’t matter whether you are a CEO, an unpaid intern, or a service industry employee. God is the giver and ruler of everyone’s time, and you are entitled to a day each week to honor your liberator.

God gives us the time we have, from the beginning to the end of our lives. It is not our own.

Many people, however, have the arrogant notion that time is their own, so they should be able to spend it as they wish. They get upset if someone “wastes” their time. But time is not a commodity we get to “spend.”

God built creation with Sabbath-rest as its goal. This was not because God was exhausted after six days of creation. The rest that God commands is for us so that we can enjoy his creation and honor the one who gives us life within it. So each week we should enjoy a day of rejoicing in God’s work while setting our own work aside.

Plenty of people think that this command is inconsequential today. They believe their own work is so important that it super­sedes God’s Sabbath command. It does not. Resting and rejoicing in God remind us that we are not in control.

Some of my relatives own supermarkets in the Chicago area. Their stores are not open on Sundays. In this way they show they love God more than money. They and their employees enjoy a Sabbath-rest in honor of God. God has prospered them and will do so for all who keep his Sabbath.

God created the universe and claims us as his own. God is the holy and perfect One whose name is above all names. No other name should be so highly honored.

God is also the one who loves us perfectly. God cares for us and provides for us each day. God is faithful and always keeps his promises.

Why, then, would we disrespect God by misusing his name?

I had a Jewish student who would write only “G_d” on her papers so that she would not use the full name for God. That kind of respect for the name of God may be extreme, but in our culture today people have often swerved to the other extreme. For example, the letters OMG have become a social meme. This is used like an exclamation point in conversations that are trite, even narcissistic. Using God’s name in such contexts is disgraceful to the one whose name is above all names.

One day when someone said, “Oh, my God!” I asked them, “What if God comes and calls you to account for that? You’ll be in a world of trouble then.”

Let’s give honor to the Lord our God in all we think, say, and do.