Jesus shared with his followers that all of the law was wrapped up in this new command: 

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 1:27)

Do you remember your teacher, parent or babysitter reciting the Golden Rule: Do Unto Others as they would do unto you?” I do! And many times when it was said to me it was after someone had hurt or offended me. I remember thinking -- I don’t want to be kind, they just hurt me. 

I think this is a natural reaction. The conundrum between seeking justice and acting with love is illustrated well in the movie Switched written by Alexandra Boylan, John K D Graham and Andrea Polnaszek. One of the familiar phrases quoted throughout the movie is:  Lead with Love. 

We may know that leading with love is the right thing to do but it is not the easy thing to do.

I hope you will join me on a seven day journey to explore what it means to lead with love. When Jesus says love your neighbor as yourself during a conversation, He is referencing a famous Jewish prayer that had been written by Moses. It was called the Shema:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.”  (Deuteronomy 6:4). This was God’s instruction to his people to encourage them to stay on track. 

When Jesus restates it in Luke, He adds to it by saying -- "Love God and love others as yourself." This is a key teaching of Jesus and as you learn and grow in your understanding it will literally change the way you do life. 

I have organized the daily devotions into four Love Leadings. 

1. Bible Love Leading: This is a scripture about love that we will explore during God’s Love Leading.
   
   
2. God’s Love Leading: This is an illustration that will help you understand the Bible verse for the day.
   
   
3. My Love Leading: This is an action step.  Something you can do, try or meditate on in order to take a next step toward leading with love.
   
   
4. Prayer Love Leading: This is an opportunity for you to pray and ask God to give you the strength to follow through with what you have learned and how you are being led. 

Join me as we learn together out to Lead with Love!