Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.

Luke 10:27   (NIV)

Whenever we would be discussing whether or not I should or shouldn’t do something, I can remember my brother Andrew would encourage (and sometimes admonish me) with three familiar words…’Whatsoever you do’.

That was the opening stanza of one of our beloved church hymns. “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers…that you do unto me.” Sometimes Andrew would even sing it. He was always a musical kind of fellow!

Of course neither Andrew nor I or any of us can make all of our decisions based on those words. Only Jesus could do that. It can sure change the way we look at the situations in our life though. It also reminds us of God’s command for all of us to love and treat others as we want to be treated.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Matthew 25:35-36   (NIV)

How can we love someone the way that we would want to be loved? We could become involved in one of the many ministries that cater to the personal and spiritual needs of others. (Prisoners, homebound…)

In our stand-offish, don’t get involved society, sometimes it can be as simples as noticing someone else’s actions. Don’t we like it when someone else notices us? It can encourage us that we are doing something good. Perhaps it will prompt us to stay the course…or even do more to help.

We just never know what’s going to happen when we start noticing others! Maybe we’ll make a new friend. Certainly we can all use more friends! Maybe others can give us tips to make our actions even more helpful. That’s what we call working together.

If we are feeling lonely or isolated, having someone notice us will help us remember…even if momentarily…that we are not alone in this life. AND if we are off in our own little world, being noticed will help us remember that others ARE watching us. They’re watching more than our words and actions. They’re also seeing our attitude and demeanor. Let’s be sure to give them a good impression!

God ask all of us to follow the golden rule…

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. 

 Matthew 7:12  (NIV)

Following this decree of the Lord will not only help others, but make us feel pretty darn good about ourselves! We’ll feel virtuous, upstanding and worthy of God’s love. Just like a father, God loves us regardless of what we do (or don’t do). How good it is to feel deserving of that love though!

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Colossians 3:23  (NIV)

I speak these words to myself as I walk into teach my class each morning. That way I feel like my message is coming from the Lord, and not from me. Then I am assured that I will receive as much good from the class as my students do!

Remembering the Lord as we go about our day can really give us a boost. It can help us get our mind off of ourselves and put it on other people. Then we can really feel some happiness.

‘Whatsoever you do’….

Dear Lord,

It’s so easy to get caught up in our own little world, with all its’ responsibilities. You ask us though to put others above ourselves.

Sometimes not an easy task…but doing it for You makes our efforts so fulfilling! And it brings us closer to You.

Yay!!! 

A friend showed me how to eliminate robo comments and still allow my subscribers to comment on my blog posts. So you can once again comment directly on my website!

Once you are on mvarga.com, you can subscribe to receive future blog posts, read through past blogs and find more about my books & fitness tips!