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As I branched off at the Causeway Police Station towards Reiss Junction, I wondered why I always have to make this trip, when there are at least three other bicycle repairers on the route, before Danjuma’s shop! The answer is not far-fetched. Danjuma simply makes me feel welcome!

Danjuma, medium height, and dark in complexion with pearly white teeth, explained that his name is the name given to a boy born on Friday, in the Northern parts of Ghana. He is extremely welcoming with a very relaxed persona around everyone! He always finds a nice way of making you know your offer is not good, and all the time smiling. He can engage anyone in conversation, from the youngest kid to the eldest parent! He gives you very useful tips on how to get the best bikes, even used ones, and even offers to go with you to select them! He checks with you and explains to you before making any changes to your bike. He is more focused on making you happy than making money off you. But he did something that truly endeared him to me.

I was late to pick up my bike one evening, and he waited till it got dark. It was when I got there and picked the bike that he told me he would be in trouble with the police, and that he stayed far, and uses an unregistered motorbike! He then zoomed off with his equally nice brother, who had been waiting for him all the while. Had he told me this one phone, I would have told him to lock the bike up and go home. I was worried about him, but thank God he arrived home safely. He went that far to make me comfortable! Danjuma’s hospitable nature made it easy to relate to him. We have become friends, and I sometimes stop by just to chit chat.

The truth is, we are made for relationships; first with God, then with one another. Jesus made this very clear when asked about the greatest commandment.

READ Matthew 22:34-40

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”(Matthew 22:34-40)

I have often heard people say,

“Everyone thinks I am a difficult person, but this is how I am.”

God did not create us to be difficult. He created us to relate, and that is why He created many of us; so we can relate. That is why although He knew He could relate to Adam, he still said,

“It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:18)

Jesus said,

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

Note Jesus’ reference to the Law and Prophets in both the Matthew 22 and the Matthew 7 texts. Combining both texts, I can safely say,

“Love God, and He will love you back; love your neighbors and they will love you back.”

God is sovereign and loves us even when we don’t love Him, and that is the reason He sent His son Jesus Christ do die for us(John 3:16). But there are far more deeper relationships you can have with God. That was the kind of relationship David had with Him; to the extent that He calls David “the man after My own heart”(1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22).

Similarly, Christ has instructed His followers to love; but the level of love is different, and deeper, when it is mutual and reciprocal. That is why people spend less time in hostile and toxic environments, and more time in cordial and peaceful environments.

Love goes, love comes. It is the reason God instructed us to love one another, and to do to them what we want them to do to us.  

That is just how God created it, to bring peace to all mankind. You can only say, “This is who I am,” when you exude love, otherwise, that is not who you are!

God created us all to love.

MEMORY VERSE

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

QUESTIONS

1. Do you sometimes wonder why you are not loved, cherished and treated right? 

2. Have you tried giving the same first?

PRAYER TIP

Father, help us to love, because you are love.

Written by:

BENNY MALM

For:

TESTIMONY DEVOTIONAL

URGENT CALL

If you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior, you need to do that now!

Please visit “The Believer’s Prayer” for guidance.

We will be happy to hear from you through the contact information on that page. God bless you.

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We thank God for counting us worthy to share in His Great Commission.