Checklists, rules, laws - they are meant to be our servants, not our masters.  As servants, they can greatly aid us in our walk with Jesus.  As masters, they lead us astray, for they can never save or sanctify us.

Matthew 23:23-24, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

The Pharisees were careful to obey the smallest details of the Law (tithing mint, dill, and cumin, etc.) but missed the spirit behind the Law (that one ought to be just, merciful, and faithful, etc.)  When we focus unduly on checklists, rules, or laws, that always happens.  Jesus summed all of the Law and Prophets into two commands: Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.  Guidelines are good.  They give substance to love.  Without guidelines to describe what love is, "love" almost always degenerates into sentimental tripe.  But guidelines are not love in-and-of-itself.  If we obsess about them, we miss the point.

Quiet Reflections: How do you describe love?  If your definition tends more towards feelings than actions, that is not biblical love.  If one wants to describe love, the Ten Commandments are a good starting point.  But one can keep those Commandments without loving God and his fellow man.  As in all things, it is a balance.  On the one hand, does your love have substance?  On the other hand, does the substance (the rules) overshadow the heart of the matter (love)?

Thoughts or comments?

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