Timeless Teachings

Shift your thinking
As human beings we have a tendency to stick to events of the past and often our thinking and behavior is based on what happened to us at one time or on what someone said to us. Sometimes people still hold anger because someone was rude to them 20 years ago! In Respectfully Yours the changing of our thinking and behavior, by looking ahead instead of behind, is a main theme. In chapter two I wrote the following.
Jesus didn't get stuck in the past; He always looked to the future. When He was teaching the crowd about the Law in Matthew 5 and 6, He kept saying, "You have heard that it was said" and by doing that He urged the people to think about their behavior up until that moment. In other words: why do you do the things you do? He then continued "But now I tell you" and from that moment on He tells them to change their thinking and behavior. He didn't say the Law was no longer there, He gave them the way of fulfilling it. Jesus still wants to shift our thinking and behavior with His timeless teachings. He is still telling us "but now I tell you." He still urges us today to change from this moment on. We can make the decision today to live life from Jesus' point of view. Remember, love is the fulfillment of the Law. We need to love, because God loved us first! It is our Christian duty!