{"id":6548,"date":"2013-11-10T16:43:07","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T21:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allandouglas.dougbittinger.com\/blog\/?p=6548"},"modified":"2025-04-21T01:56:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T05:56:40","slug":"caring-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/caring-others\/","title":{"rendered":"CARING FOR OTHERS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Calvin<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The most compelling task of our Christian commitment is that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.\u00a0 In no way can we escape the Biblical mandate to treat others with respect.\u00a0 We are not offered the option of retaliation, even when we are mistreated.\u00a0 We are admonished to turn the other cheek and go the second mile.\u00a0 In so doing, we leave the impression that love and not hate is the dominant force in our lives.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It’s not easy being kind and considerate in a world which equates meekness with weakness.\u00a0 It’s not profitable to let ethics and morality control our aggressive ambitions.\u00a0 Of course, Jesus is our model example of self-giving love but who wants to be a martyr?\u00a0 We are not conditioned for the kinds of sacrifices which our Lord demands.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We love our neighbor not as we love ourselves.\u00a0 We love our neighbor only in ways which are convenient and non-demanding.\u00a0 We are prone to fulfill the obligation of our own needs before we make any serious commitment to others.\u00a0 The selfish satisfaction of conquering the competition inhibits our willingness to let anyone get ahead of us.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Somehow, the key that unlocks our desire to help others is discovered in the context of our needs.\u00a0 The kindness and love we require is the kindness and love we must give.\u00a0 Within the framework of our own personal needs is the best clue as to how we can reach out helpfully to others.We do not need a course in compassion nearly as much as we need to learn to treat others in the way we would like to be treated.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The best commentary on how we are doing is a sense of joy which comes from our helpfulness.\u00a0 We are created for kindness and not contention.\u00a0 Our needs are best met as we proceed to meet the needs of others.\u00a0 To know ourselves is to know our neighbor.\u00a0 To know our neighbor is to express love in ways we wished to be loved.\u00a0 We are never nearer God than when we love those whom He loves.\u00a0 By giving us the power to bless others, God has equipped us to be neighborly.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

     The most compelling task of our Christian commitment is that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  In no way can we escape the Biblical mandate to treat others with respect.  We are not offered the option of retaliation, even when we are mistreated.  We are admonished to turn … Continue reading “CARING FOR OTHERS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6548"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19137,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6548\/revisions\/19137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}