07/16/2024
Top Eight Tips For Doing Unto Others:
Taking The Golden Rule of Jesus To The Next Level
The following are eight principles that work in almost all circumstances as we follow through on our commitment to treat others as we wish to be treated. I intended to use this in Sunday’s sermon but totally spaced it.
1. Listen long and hard—try to understand what someone is communicating before you begin thinking about your response or sharing your own ideas and experiences
2. Go out of your way to be helpful when others are in obvious need of a helping hand. (Being inconvenienced is the hallmark of faithful disciples of Jesus.)
3. Be twice as patient with others as you’d like them to be patient with you. (You can never go wrong with adding extra patience).
4. Don’t read ulterior motives into the actions of others. Assume the best about others as you’d want them to assume the best about you.
5. Offer a specific act of support and caring when someone is going through a rough patch. Avoid an offer of “If you need anything”. Instead try, ‘What can I do to be helpful? Mow your lawn, cook your dinner, walk your dog, etc.’
6. Be encouraging and positive just as you enjoy being surrounded by encouragement and optimism. Look to ‘catch’ the people around you being good.
7. Admit your mistakes readily and apologize immediately when you’ve hurt someone’s feelings or done something unworthy of your calling in Christ.
8. Offer to pray for someone and follow through with it. Taking prayer for others seriously is a powerful way to care for another. (Whether folks believe in God or not, making the offer will help them believe that you want what is best for them. Prayer is our way of expressing that.)
Archived Posts
Prayer Changes Things
Here is a transcript of the prayer I prayed at the end of yesterday’s sermon.
Optimism, Faith, and Hope:
Practical Steps For Increasing All Three
Here are some practical, spiritual, and relational ways to grow faith, hope and optimism:
Listening Heart
It’s kind of crazy when you think about it. Wisdom in the Bible is all about listening. Of course it makes sense that wisdom would start with listening to God, to God’s law and commandments, as well as the promptings and leadings of the Holy Spirit.
Here are some quotes that
didn’t make it into Sunday’s sermon.
(But it doesn’t mean that they don’t offer real insight into the power of risk over the fear of failure...)
Such A Rich Passage (Luke 19:1-10)
I reflected a lot on the passage about Zacchaeus because it has been written off as “been there, read that, little guy in a tree.” But it is so rich in getting to the heart of what it means to be saved by grace through faith—to live our lives out of gratitude rather than obligation.
The Power of Presence
This last Sunday I had so much more to share than time to share it. The last Emotional Management Technique was to stay present in the process. Just as Jesus stayed with the woman who was judged and found guilty by the angry crowd, we stay by our children and our friends, especially when they need us the most. Here a couple of examples...
What’s In A Benediction?
Last Sunday I used one of my favorite benedictions.
It was inspired by a saying from about ten years ago: