Daily Encouragement: Year 1, Day 57
Adapted from Handbook to Leadership
Personal Development: Values
God’s moral law for His people is an expression of His own changeless perfection. In the Ten Commandments, God is actually calling His covenant people to be like Him, to be holy as He is holy. (Leviticus 11:45).
The Ten Commandments begin with our demonstrated relationship with God and end with our relationship with others. In Scripture, righteousness is always realized within the context of relationships; it consistently relates to loving behavior toward God and others. Love does no harm to its neighbor, and as a result, “is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). The whole law is summed up in the command to love our neighbor (Galatians 5:14).
It is one thing to know the right things to do and another to consistently do them. Jesus called us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), but this is unattainable apart from the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Only as we live by the Spirit are we empowered to “put skin on” biblical values and make them real in our own lives.