Devotion 

Some Rules to Live By

Frances Taylor 

How does Christianity call us to live? Paul had some very specific ideas about this and outlines them in this letter to the community in Rome. I like especially the first: let love be without hypocrisy. Love of neighbor is the second of the great commandments given us in the Old Testament. This is confirmed by Jesus in the New Testament and he goes even further by telling us that our love must be like his. That's a tough job to live up to, but Paul gives us some concrete ways to proceed. Abhor what is evil. First we need to look around and see what is evil. Sometimes evil looks good. It can be tempting to cut corners at work, either by using sub-standard materials or not putting in the time you claim for your pay. Cheating has been a problem in school at every level because a person wants a higher grade, but doesn't want to put in the time to study. Be diligent, not slothful – would that the workforce in every situation would adhere to this! We should be steadfast in prayer and patient. Patience can be one of my faults in many situations! We also are told to be hospitable and this is not limited to those we like. I'm sure there are many examples you can give that are even stronger than mine. Knowing what to do is easy, doing it is hard.

Prayer 

Loving God, you have called us to be your witnesses to the world and given us the best example of how to accomplish this – reflect the love of your Son, Jesus. Give us the graces we need to hold firm to what we know to be right and to act upon it. Amen.