349 / 665
Chapter 23. Life in Christ—Part One • 321
MEDITATION
Jesus Christ is the ultimate Teacher of morality. He indeed ratified the
Ten Commandments, and he also pointed out that every Commandment
in the Law and the Prophets is rooted in the two fundamental precepts
of love of God and love of neighbor. Though the Old Testament also
taught love of God and neighbor, the Lord’s precepts were new because
he taught us the right measure of love, which includes the love of enemies.
We are to love one another “as I have loved you,” that is, with a measure
of love never seen before on earth. He taught by words and by his life
that love essentially involves self-giving and self-sacrifice. We are never
deliberately to do evil to anyone to achieve any objective whatsoever.
PRAYER
May the God of peace,
who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep
by the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord,
furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will.
May he carry out in you what is pleasing to him through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever [and ever]. Amen.
—Heb 13:20-21
•
Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you.
—Zec 1:3