Start with me

ICALL them Mell Notes – little comments my daughter Melissa made in her Bible to help her apply a passage to her life. In Matthew 7, for instance, she had drawn a box around verses 1 and 2 that talk about not judging others because, when you do, “with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Next to it she wrote this Mell Note: “Look at what you are dong before you look at others.”

Melissa was an “others-oriented” teen. She lived the words of Philippians 2:4. Her classmate Matt, who knew her from church nursery through her final days in the eleventh grade when she died in a car accident, said of Melissa at her memorial service: “I don’t think I ever saw you without a smile or something that brightened up people’s days.” Her friend Tara said this: “Thanks for being my friend, even when no one else was as nice and cheerful as you.”

In a day in which harsh judgement of others seem to be the rule, it’s good to remember that love starts with us. The words of Paul come to mind: “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).

What a difference we’ll make if, when we look at others, we say, “Love starts with me.” And wouldn’t that be a great reflection of God’s love for us? — Dave Branon Lord, thank You for the great love You lavished on us when You sent Your Son to die and be resurrected so that we could be with You eternally. In response, help us to love others. Lord, we want to be like You.

Embracing God’s love for us is the key to loving others.