My Word teaches you to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Do you see these as two separate commandments, or are they expressions of the same principle? In other words, is there a difference between the way you love God and the way you love your neighbor? There is additional guidance in the Bible to resolve this question. How can you claim to love a God you cannot see if you cannot love your brother whom you can see, who, by your doctrinal affirmation, is made in the image of God?

Do you admire principles like courage, generosity, and gratitude? It is one thing to express affirmation of these values as detached abstractions. It is quite another to see them as embodied manifestations. Do you admire the people who can implement these things successfully? Does the open display have a profound effect on you that calls for a response? Leaders understand the value of leading by example, and virtue is contagious. If others let their light shine before men that their good works are visible to you, then go and do likewise, and let your light shine as an example to others.

When people came to me to be healed, what did I ask them? Do you want to be healed? Does this sound so simple as to be a stupid question? Who wouldn’t want to be healed? Yet consider what I didn’t ask. Do you belong to my group? Have you been following the commandments? Is there any sin in your life that you need to repent of? Have you been supporting the Lord’s work financially? Do you recognize and affirm that I am the Son of God? In asking only if they wanted to be healed I set the bar really low. And when I healed them I declared that it was their faith that made them whole.

Who do you interact with? Are most of your friends Christians? In a still more narrow sense, are most of your friends members of your church? This is not meant to condemn you. That is a normal consequence of being in community. Do you also find that most Christian ministry is directed toward other Christians? Is this harder to defend than having a small circle of friends? I had my own inner circle of disciples, but used every opportunity to speak to large groups and made a special effort to include outsiders.