LOVE IS COURTEOUS
Matthew 5:14-16
I Corinthians 13:5
A while back, the story of a man who insults and cusses out any police officer he sees made the national news. He isn't doing anything illegal -- it's his right to express his opinion of law enforcement however he chooses.
There was also the case in Minnesota involving a man who let loose a torrent of obscenities when he flipped his canoe. The river bank was lined with people, including families with small children. Some of the parents sued the man. His defense? It was his right.
In a culture that preaches a gospel of entitlement, many people feel they have the right to do or say whatever pleases or benefits them without considering how it affects others. We have the right to gossip about our neighbors, to hold grudges, to take our bad day out on a store clerk and to hog conversations. There are no laws against these things.
In the kingdom of God, however, the questions is not whether it's our right to do something but rather is it loving?
Love is not rude. It does not engage in hurtful, disgraceful and shameful acts. Love is courteous.
Many of us bemoan the lack of common courtesy. Courtesy goes beyond knowing which fork to use or how to properly introduce someone to your aunt. Being courteous honors and blesses the one to whom we are being courteous as well as honoring whose we are.
Courtesy comes from an old French word meaning to act in the way of the royal court. Once upon a time, royalty, members of their courts and their servants were held to a higher standard of behavior than ordinary folk. Because of their position and power, they had a responsibility to treat others with decency and to protect those people under their rule.
Also, whenever the members of court or the royal servants were out and about in the world, they wore the colors and insignia of the royal house. There was no mistaking that they were representatives of the local ruler, and what they did either honored or dishonored their master.
It's like this. One night, I stopped at a convenience store in Vinton to grab a bottle of pop on my way home after a meeting. A boy, maybe nine or ten years old, held the door open for me. I thanked him for his courtesy and thought, "His parents certainly are raising him right." His courtesy blessed me and left me with a favorable impression of them -- it honored his family.
Another night, Christmas Eve, in fact, my thumb drive fell out of my purse at a truck stop on I-380. I didn't realize it was gone until several days later when I needed it. Half of my life and what I needed for work was on that little memory stick, and I had no idea what happened to it.
Shortly after I discovered it was missing, I received an 3-mail from a young man from Waterloo. In the slush of the parking lot, he had found my thumb drive. It was a bit mangled, but he managed to straighten it out enough to be able to plug it into his computer and find out who the owner was. He didn't have to do that. He didn't have to mail it back to me or refuse to let me pay for the postage, but he did it anyway.
He did it because it was the loving thing to do -- the courteous thing to do. It blessed me and honored his lord, Jesus Christ.
We Christians, who have been baptized in Christ's name, have put on Christ. Wherever we go, we wear Christ and are his representatives. Whatever we d not only reflects on us, but it also gives others a favorable or unfavorable impression of Christ.
If we are brash, inconsiderate and demanding of our own way, people will think that Christ is brash, thoughtless and demanding. If we are loving, patient, kind and courteous, then people will think the same of Christ.
Love is Courteous.
It is through the everyday acts of common courtesy that Christ shines through us. Let us shine our light before all people.
I Corinthians 13:5
A while back, the story of a man who insults and cusses out any police officer he sees made the national news. He isn't doing anything illegal -- it's his right to express his opinion of law enforcement however he chooses.
There was also the case in Minnesota involving a man who let loose a torrent of obscenities when he flipped his canoe. The river bank was lined with people, including families with small children. Some of the parents sued the man. His defense? It was his right.
In a culture that preaches a gospel of entitlement, many people feel they have the right to do or say whatever pleases or benefits them without considering how it affects others. We have the right to gossip about our neighbors, to hold grudges, to take our bad day out on a store clerk and to hog conversations. There are no laws against these things.
In the kingdom of God, however, the questions is not whether it's our right to do something but rather is it loving?
Love is not rude. It does not engage in hurtful, disgraceful and shameful acts. Love is courteous.
Many of us bemoan the lack of common courtesy. Courtesy goes beyond knowing which fork to use or how to properly introduce someone to your aunt. Being courteous honors and blesses the one to whom we are being courteous as well as honoring whose we are.
Courtesy comes from an old French word meaning to act in the way of the royal court. Once upon a time, royalty, members of their courts and their servants were held to a higher standard of behavior than ordinary folk. Because of their position and power, they had a responsibility to treat others with decency and to protect those people under their rule.
Also, whenever the members of court or the royal servants were out and about in the world, they wore the colors and insignia of the royal house. There was no mistaking that they were representatives of the local ruler, and what they did either honored or dishonored their master.
It's like this. One night, I stopped at a convenience store in Vinton to grab a bottle of pop on my way home after a meeting. A boy, maybe nine or ten years old, held the door open for me. I thanked him for his courtesy and thought, "His parents certainly are raising him right." His courtesy blessed me and left me with a favorable impression of them -- it honored his family.
Another night, Christmas Eve, in fact, my thumb drive fell out of my purse at a truck stop on I-380. I didn't realize it was gone until several days later when I needed it. Half of my life and what I needed for work was on that little memory stick, and I had no idea what happened to it.
Shortly after I discovered it was missing, I received an 3-mail from a young man from Waterloo. In the slush of the parking lot, he had found my thumb drive. It was a bit mangled, but he managed to straighten it out enough to be able to plug it into his computer and find out who the owner was. He didn't have to do that. He didn't have to mail it back to me or refuse to let me pay for the postage, but he did it anyway.
He did it because it was the loving thing to do -- the courteous thing to do. It blessed me and honored his lord, Jesus Christ.
We Christians, who have been baptized in Christ's name, have put on Christ. Wherever we go, we wear Christ and are his representatives. Whatever we d not only reflects on us, but it also gives others a favorable or unfavorable impression of Christ.
If we are brash, inconsiderate and demanding of our own way, people will think that Christ is brash, thoughtless and demanding. If we are loving, patient, kind and courteous, then people will think the same of Christ.
Love is Courteous.
It is through the everyday acts of common courtesy that Christ shines through us. Let us shine our light before all people.
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