Daily devotions

January 1, 2011
Scripture reading:
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him,” Which is the first commandment of all?”
And Jesus answered him, “The first of all commandment is, Hear, O he Lord our God Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love thy Lord God will all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he.
And to love him with all the heart and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
-Mark 12:28-33 (Holy Bible, Placed by the Gideons)

Criticism Versus Love

When I was at the park with some of our family members from my mother’s side, I’ve seen different people from different walks of life. Upon looking on their faces, I sure have negative thoughts of them in my mind, just like, “Why are you wearing those baggy clothes?” or “Does that face of yours exist in this planet earth?”…
I’ve always been tempted to be critical or unkind to others regarding on their superficial appearances. As what they (others) said, it’s just a human nature to discriminate its’ own kind. But upon reflecting on the scripture and devotional material, I realized that it’s a challenge to us. We should be kind to others with our thoughts and our words despite of all the negative things that we see on them.
God made the people that we’re criticizing, and God loves that person just as much as He loves us.