Law of Love

 My brothers and sisters, do not assault each other with criticism. If you decide your job is to accuse and judge another believer, then you are a self-appointed critic and judge of the law; if so, then you are no longer a doer of the law and subject to its rule; you stand over it as a judge.  Know this, there is One who stands supreme as Judge and Lawgiver. He alone is able to save and to destroy, so who are you to step in and try to judge ?                               James 4:11-12

This passage talks about the many ways that arrogance can rear its ugly head in our thought processes. James uses several examples to let the saints know that they have no right to judge a brother or sister. Often, the Law was used as a way for the “righteous” to determine how others failed in keeping the law perfectly.

James also told the brethren that they were not to slander one another. Slander is defined as: “the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation”. While this is the somewhat narrow definition of the word, I believe that James is not defining slander that narrowly. Rather, I believe that he extends the meaning to “don’t spread gossip about your brother or sister which may bring them harm- you have no right to do so”. The strictest sense of slander is “spreading a falsehood”. I would contend that James would include it wrong to be “spreading any word about another, true or not, which can bring them harm or diminish their character”.

The higher law he invokes is the law of love. The law of love encourages us to build one another up, and to help one another avoid occasions of sin.

James also takes people to task for presuming upon tomorrow. We cannot assume that we will get tomorrow. While we need to plan as if there WILL be a tomorrow for us, it is to be done in the attitude of holding it loosely, knowing that in a moment, God can call us home. So we talk and act in the manner that says, if God gives me tomorrow, it will be His, for His good and for His plans.

Prayer: Father, thank you for your Law of Love, which covers our sins completely. Help us to defend our brothers and sisters by guarding our thoughts and our tongues, Amen.