How are we assured that we have learned the material? We pass a test over the subject matter. How do we know that what we’ve built is what was ordered? We test it.
How do we know if we are following Jesus’ commands? Well, we test our actions against the golden measure—Jesus. He left us two tests for us to compare what we do with what he said.
When asked early in his ministry, he said to love our neighbor as ourselves. The test is loving ourselves. Unfortunately, many of us have trouble loving ourselves. Also that is somewhat limited. How much do we love ourselves?
At the end of his ministry, he left another, more stringent, test. He said to love one another as he has loved us. Sometimes our self love falters. But Jesus’ love. That is tough to duplicate. That makes it the gold standard. The ideal. We need to examine ourselves often. Where have we fallen short of loving just as Jesus loved? With that Facebook post? With that comment to a neighbor about another neighbor? With that failure to help someone in need?
If the test is whether we have loved just as Jesus has loved, then have we passed? Or have we failed? What do we need to learn today so that we pass when we check tonight?
Faith Venture 
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