CBD Prayer Groups (18 May 2010)

Loving Colleagues

"And the second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31)

Is any other scripture so convicting? Yet how easy it would be for those of us with hardened
hearts to quickly bypass it. Do we really know our neighbors? And what's to love about them
anyway?

The truth is that if our whole heart is surrendered to the Lord, and we truly love Him, we will want to
please Him, and we will carry His love in our heart, which will overflow to others too. If we truly
surrender our entire agenda to Him for His purpose, asking Him to have His way in our day and
then be obedient to His guidance, we will know that our jobs are our divine assignments and that
the Lord will use us to affect others where He places us. This includes our colleagues.

I recall a time when I worked with a woman I didn't even like, much less love. I knew my heart was
being tested, and God was watching. So the first thing I did was get alone with God and confess
my lack of love for her.

I knew that 1 John 4:19 tells us that we cannot love God without loving our brother (or sister).
Therefore, it is impossible to keep God's first commandment to love God without keeping His
second (Mk. 12:30-31). And I did not want to be outside of God's will.

In my desperation, I asked God to fill my heart with His love for my sister. But if I hadn't followed
the Holy Spirit's guidance carefully, I might have missed the opportunity because His response
came in an unexpected way.

The Lord actually gave this woman and I a pivotal moment where she erupted in angry
lamentations before me. As I listened to her, God overwhelmed my heart with pure divine love for
her to a point that it overtook every negative and feeling I experienced. His love enabled me to do
the right thing, which was to simply hug her and tell her that Jesus loved her. It was a more-of-
Him, less-of-me moment.

Through her lamentations, I learned that she was a new Christian, who was having a hard time in
life. And she needed a personal touch from Jesus. If I had reacted to her out of my flesh and
snapped back at her or avoided her, I would've failed the heart test. What's more, God would've
had to get someone else to extend His heart to this woman, and I would've had to retake the test.

I can be a quick learner when my heart is on the line. How about you?

Which of your colleagues do you find difficult to love? Which of them needs a touch from Jesus
today? I encourage you to repent, and confess that you cannot love them on your own. Then ask
the Lord to fill your heart with His divine love for them, to enable you to love them as He does.
You'll find that He'll not only touch their hearts, He'll touch yours too.

Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to
share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.
 PRAYER GROUPS DETAILS

Raffles Place Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, 19 May 10 at 12.30 pm.
 Meet at Big Bird Statue next to UOB Plaza and Singapore River
 Contact Alexandra Wee (awee@cambridgeassociates.com)

City Hall Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, 19 May 10 at 12.45 pm
 Meet at Sky Garden, Suntec City
 Contact Cindy Tan (Cindy.Tan@citi.com) / Kathleen Yee (Katheleen.yee@portcullis-
trustnet.com)

Tanjong Pagar Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Thursday, 20 May 10 at 12.30 pm
 Meet at Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church, Ground Floor
 Contact Chew Qi @ 98334365 (Chew.Qi@UOBgroup.com)

Orchard / Somerset Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, 19 May 10 at 12.30 pm
 Meet at Chatzone @ SingTel lobby
 Contact Ezel Ting @ 96716560 (ezelting@singtel.com)

Harbourfront Prayer Group

 Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, 19 May 10 at 12.30 pm
 Meet at Vivocity, Level 3, Amphitheatre (outdoor area outside Food Republic)
 Contact Victoria Lim (Victoria.Lim@sgp.dupont.com)

Toa Payoh North Prayer Group (SPH)

 Prayer Meeting on Tuesday, 25 May 10 at 1.00 – 2.00pm.
 Meet at 5th Floor Corner SPH News Centre, 1000 Toa Payoh North
 Contact Hannah Teoh (hteoh@sph.com.sg)