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Graceways September 20 Devotional

by David Joynt on September 20, 2024


LUKE 6:31 | 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

The Rabbi’s in Jesus’ day posited a command like this one, but in the negative. “Do not do to others what you don’t want done to you.”  Jesus remakes this into a far more challenging instruction.        Refraining from evil is easier and more restricted than doing good. Treating others as we want to be treated includes refraining from mistreatment, but it also opens the door, in an unlimited way, to caring for and loving others. What do we want from others? We want to be listened to, respected, understood, and valued. That means we must listen to, respect, understand, and value others. Reciprocal obligations are non-negotiable.

 

How creative are you in loving others?

 

 

Gracious God,

Help me to avoid categorizing or dismissing others, especially those with whom I differ. Grow my capacity to listen, learn, emphasize, and value. I ask in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

 

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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