Tag: Care

Individual Responsibility, Living in the Image of God

Individual Responsibility in Call to Compassion

Living in the Image of God M04S03

Christ teaching in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats and an earlier message through Prophet Isaiah provide an understanding of the individual responsibility in a call to compassion. When God directs a person to an opportunity to provide goods or service to benefit others in need, he calls the person to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to contributing goods or service to alleviate the need, and persevere in seeking to contribute. He promises blessing for those that complete their responsibility in a call to compassion but punishment for those that decline theirs.

M04S03 Individual Responsibility in Call to Compassion 19:41

We discuss Christ teaching in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31–46) and an earlier message through Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 58:7–9) to understand the individual responsibility in a call to compassion. As we discuss in previous studies (e.g., Responsibility in Call to Compassion), a call to compassion is when God directs a person’s attention to the need of another person less able to provide for the need. Through the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Christ defines the individual responsibility in a call to compassion: recognize the need and needy, care about the needy, be motivated by care to commit to contributing goods or service to alleviate the need, and persevere in seeking to contribute.

He uses the parable to provide a message of people serving God by serving other people. He categorizes as righteous, people that serve God by providing goods or service to benefit other people in need: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” [Matthew 25:40]. Also, he uses the parable to explain that a person declines a call to serve God when he or she declines assistance to another person in need: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” [Matthew 25:45]. Regarding a call to compassion, the phrase “the least of these” means the needy (i.e., a person that has a need but is less able to provide for the need).

God promises blessing for those that complete their responsibility in a call to compassion: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” [Matthew 25:34] (also, see his promise in Isaiah 58:8–9). In contrast, he promises punishment for the others (i.e., those that decline responsibility in a call to compassion): “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” [Matthew 25:41].

Continue reading “Individual Responsibility in Call to Compassion” →
From the Gospel, Living in the Image of God

Christ Teaches Humility

Living in the Image of God M03S10

Humility is the quality of expecting others to be greater or better than you in one or more considerations, based on understanding that every person is potentially God’s representative in human interactions with you. Humility manifests as an invitation with promise—promise of care and diligence regarding the needs of others; promise of appreciation for others and any goods or service they provide; and promise of obedience to the authority of others—conveyed to them more by attitude than spoken or written words.

Christ Teaches Humility 13:37

We discuss three instances of Christ teaching regarding humility: to understand the meaning and importance of humility in human interactions. First, we discuss Christ teaching among dinner guests, where he explained a defining principle of humility: humble yourself that you may be exalted and honored by others; or the opposite, exalt yourself and you likely will be humbled and humiliated by others. Through his interactions with the dinner guests, Christ defines humility as the quality of expecting others to be greater or better than you in one or more considerations.

Second, we discuss the humility of a child based on Christ teaching. We see that a child personifies humility according to the defining principle, because of the intrinsic characteristic of childhood to expect others to be greater or better. Therefore, Christ introduces the humility of childhood as defining a standard that God expects of every person.

Third, we discuss an example based on the humility of David to understand that humility entails respect and submission to lawful authority. He was anointed to be king but recognized the authority of the people to select him as their king. Therefore, he waited patiently in humility for seven years after the death of his predecessor, until the people of Israel made him king.

Finally, we discuss Christ teaching on humility in the Sermon on the Mount, where he described the promise of blessing for humility toward God and humility in human interactions.

Continue reading “Christ Teaches Humility” →
Basis for Living in the Image of God, Living in the Image of God

Human Responsibilities in Living in the Image of God

Living in the Image of God M01S04

The second part of the Beatitudes (third through eighth) identifies four cardinal responsibilities of Living in the Image of God: Humility toward others, compassion (care for others and sensitivity to the needs of others), motivation for righteousness based on commitment to God’s purpose, and individual responsibility for peace and righteousness. The Beatitudes proclaim God’s promise of blessing for a person that commits to these responsibilities and lives according to the commitment.

Living in the Image of God Module 01 Session 04 (8m 17s)

In the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, referred to as the Beatitudes, Christ proclaims God’s promise of blessing for every person that performs his/her responsibilities of representing God in interactions with others. As we discuss under Resources for Living in the Image of God, the first three Beatitudes describe resources that God provides to guide us whereas the last six (i.e., Beatitudes 3–8) describe the human responsibilities. There are four cardinal responsibilities.

  1. Beatitude 3: Humility toward others.
  2. Beatitudes 4 and 5: Compassion (i.e., care for others and sensitivity to the needs of others).
  3. Beatitude 6: Motivation for righteousness based on commitment to God’s purpose.
  4. Beatitudes 7 and 8: Individual responsibility for peace and righteousness.

We discuss each of the cardinal responsibilities briefly in this bible study and provide more detailed discussion in future studies.

Continue reading “Human Responsibilities in Living in the Image of God” →
Following God's Schedule

Humility in Human Interactions

The Greatest Virtue

Humility promotes an environment conducive to fulfilling God’s purpose for every person to represent him in interactions with others. It manifests as an invitation, by action or words, and conveys a promise to be respectful of others, polite, attentive, responsive, peaceful, and truthful in human interactions. The invitation offers promise of goodness; promise of care and diligence; promise of appreciation; and promise of obedience—overall, essentially a promise to be available and willing to provide service to benefit others, accept and appreciate service provided by others, and submit to and respect others’ authority. We discuss humility from Christ teaching and an example from David waiting seven years to be made king by due process after the death of the preceding king.

Teaching in humility
Teaching in humility LumoProject.com FreeBibleImages.org

David was anointed to be king of Israel and was expected to become king at the end of Saul’s reign. However, after Saul died, David waited additional seven years to become king of Israel. He did not announce himself king or seek in any way to coerce the people into making him king. Instead, in his humility he waited to be made king by the people according to due process. In this study, we discuss the humility of David in the context of a general understanding of humility based on Christ teaching. We focus on Christ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount; interactions with his disciples, when he explained humility as the greatest virtue; and interactions with guests at a dinner party, when he explained the humble will be exalted.

Humility in the Sermon on the Mount

Humility is important in Following God’s Schedule. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ describes humility as one of the guiding principles of Living in the Image of God (see Following God Schedule by Living in His Image). He describes humility toward God and toward other people. Humility is important to committing to the responsibility of representing God in human interactions: by seeking and following his directions [Blessed are the poor in spirit] through repentance of sin [Blessed are those who mourn] and humility [Blessed are the meek].

Humble in teaching
Humble in teaching
LumoProject.com FreeBibleImages.org

This study focuses on humility in human interactions, which manifests as an invitation and conveys a promise to be respectful of others, polite, attentive, responsive, peaceful, and truthful in interactions with others. The invitation is conveyed through action and words and is essentially a promise to be available and willing to provide service to benefit others, accept and appreciate service provided by others, and submit to and respect others’ authority. Furthermore, the invitation offers promise of goodness; promise of care and diligence; promise of appreciation; and promise of obedience.

Promise of Care and Diligence conveys a message that the person can be relied upon to recognize when he/she is in position to provide for a need, recognize the need, care for the needy, seek diligently to alleviate the need, and will persevere through.

Promise of Appreciation conveys a message that a potential receiver of human service will appreciate the service and will do his/her part as needed. Promise of appreciation motivates care and diligence.

Promise of Obedience is important when a person interacts with higher authority, such as proposing a choice to the authority or requesting service controlled by the authority. Through promise of obedience, a person conveys a message of willingness to submit and accept the decision of the authority, even if unfavorable. Promise of obedience motivates a promise of care and diligence from the authority.

Humility illustrated
Humility illustrated
LumoProject.com FreeBibleImages.org

As we discuss in a previous study under Value of Humility, humility promotes an environment conducive to fulfilling God’s purpose for every person to represent him in interactions with others. The interactions often occur as part of a network of mutual provider-receiver relationships, whereby every person is potentially a provider of service to benefit others and receiver of service provided by others. Humility conveys a promise to recognize and appreciate others as potential providers of human service and offer self to do likewise. Humility conveys a recognition that another person better than I can be found. As Paul said in his letter to Philippians 2:3, “…in humility value others above yourselves.” Therefore, humility conveys Godliness and motivates others to do likewise. God creates every person to be humble, expects and rewards humility, but punishes haughtiness.

Continue reading “Humility in Human Interactions” →

Following God's Schedule

Following God Schedule by Living in His Image 2of2

Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount provides guiding principles (The Beatitudes) and explains the essence of Living in the Image of God. The first three Beatitudes describe commitment to following God’s direction through humility and repentance in order to perform the responsibilities of representing him in human interactions. The third through eighth describe the value of humility, care and sensitivity to the needs of others, motivation for being good, and individual responsibilities in the pursuit of peace and righteousness. Further, Christ explains in the second part of the sermon that God creates every person with an intrinsic capability to be good to others and motivate and preserve their goodness. Similar to the intrinsic quality of salt to enhance and preserve the goodness of food. He expects every person to radiate positive impact in human interactions, similar to a light source radiating light, so that people may benefit and glorify God for each other.

Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount wikipedia.org

The Sermon on the Mount [Matthew 5–7] was Christ’s formal teaching to explain God’s purpose for human interactions. He declared the guiding principles in The Beatitudes; described the essence of God’s purpose for human interactions using the Salt of the Earth imagery; and discussed several examples to explain God’s expectations in interactions among people.

Boy offers fish and bread
Boy offers fish and bread
LumoProject.com FreeBibleImages.org

As we discuss previously in Part 1 of this study (Following God Schedule by Living in His Image 1of2), God creates every person to represent him in interactions with others: to convey his presence and impact as if he was there physically in human form. Through formal teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and parables, physical examples, and interactions with his disciples and others during his human ministry, Christ provides guiding principles and describes the essence of Living in the Image of God—to fulfill God’s purpose for every person to be his representative (aka ambassador) in interactions with others. Those that live according to the principles will follow God’s Schedule and receive fulfillment of his promise. In contrast, those that depart from the principles will depart from the schedule.

We discuss the Sermon on the Mount to understand Living in the Image of God based on Christ teaching of the guiding principles in The Beatitudes and the essence in the Salt of the Earth teaching.

Continue reading “Following God Schedule by Living in His Image 2of2” →

Following God's Schedule

Compassion—Sensitivity to Needs

Recognize – Care – Commit – Persevere

Compassion is important to following God’s schedule: based on David’s early interactions with Saul and on Christ teaching in two parables—God uses call to compassion to direct a person to blessing he has ordained. He calls the person regarding a need and expects them to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to providing, and persevere in seeking to alleviate the need. Earn blessing by completing the call or incur punishment by declining. Illustrations from David show he completed three calls to compassion early during his period as king in waiting and each completion led him to accomplish a goal and key step toward becoming king of Israel.

Teaching love through compassion [Luke 10:25–37]
LumoProject.com FreeBibleImages.org
The bible study series on Following God’s Schedule examines David’s interactions during the period between his anointing to be king and his confirmation by the people of Israel. The study focuses on understanding his following God’s schedule toward kingship notwithstanding the schedule was not revealed to him a priori. His path to kingship after the anointing included a transition from King Saul, kingship training for David, and preparing the people of Israel to accept David as king. God had a plan and schedule for each of these, required David to follow the schedule, but did not reveal the plan or schedule to him.

The study is applicable to everyday life because David’s situation is quite similar to common human experience. As we discuss in Prayer of Joseph from the Dungeon, God at times grants a prayer with a promise to be fulfilled to fit his overall plan for the recipient, sets a schedule for fulfilling the promise, requires the recipient to follow the schedule, but may not reveal the schedule or plan. The recipient needs to follow the schedule to receive fulfillment of the promise just like David needed to follow God’s schedule to become king.

Victory parade from killing Goliath
Victory parade from killing Goliath
Sweet Publishing FreeBibleImages.org

God provided his schedule to David piecemeal, as a series of preparatory and precursory events: preparatory events are those that prepared him for future occurrences, whereas a precursory event is one that is necessary to trigger a future occurrence. David’s choices regarding the events determined whether he followed or departed from God’s schedule. The study series focuses on understanding his choices in various events in the context of Christ teaching. We discuss David’s choices as they illustrate God’s purpose for human interactions and relationships, which Christ emphasizes in his teachings presented live several generations after David.

This session of the series focuses on compassion, based on David’s early interactions with Saul and others and on Christ teaching through two parables: the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats and the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Through the teachings, Christ explains that God uses a call to compassion to direct a recipient to a blessing, such as an achievement step toward fulfillment of a promise. The recipient earns the blessing by completing the call to compassion or incurs punishment by declining. Illustrations from David show he completed three calls to compassion early in his interactions with Saul and each completion led him to accomplish a goal and key step toward becoming king of Israel.

Continue reading “Compassion—Sensitivity to Needs” →