Serve the Lord, Serve Your Neighbor, and a Finished Project

I finished this project from Lizzie Kate this week! I was so happy to use this vintage frame from my Mom that I had in my stash.

I added a little vintage lace to each side of this project to fill in some blank space. I decided to back the project with some quilt batting to give it a little more substance, and then sewed the lace down each side. Worked well.

I've been thinking and meditating as I stitch on the ways that we serve the Lord. One thought that kept coming to my mind is that we serve the Lord when we serve our neighbor.

I've been re-reading Luther's Small Catechism, and in Luther's explanation of the eighth commandment, he writes of God's gift of a good reputation:

"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way."

Wow. This is so counter cultural to what we see in the world today.

How often do we hear something and immediately put it in the worst possible light? We read something and instantly our thoughts turn negative. We see something and rather than giving the benefit of the doubt, we put a bad construction on it.

The explanation goes on to say "We should put the best meaning on everything, that is, we should explain our neighbor's actions in the best possible way."

Love bears all things.

This world needs a lot more positive thoughts and a lot more love. I'm working on this now, in light of the crazy things happening all around us.

Thinking on what is true and honorable and just  and pure and lovely and commendable and worthy of praise.

"Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:9

Blessings and peace, cafe friends!