In an ecumenical gesture, the Prime Minister of Israel challenged the Pope to a friendly game of golf. Not a golfer, the Pope called a cardinal and asked him if he knew of any cardinal who could represent him in the game.

The cardinal said he knew of no cardinal who plays golf well, but he added, “there is a famous American golf who is a Catholic by the name of Jack Nicklaus. We can make him a cardinal, and he can play the Prime Minister of Israel as your personal representative.”

Nicklaus agreed to play and was appointed a cardinal. After the match, Nicklaus called the Pope and said, “Your Holiness, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I played the best golf of my life. My drives were long and true, and my putting was splendid.” After a few awkward moments of silence, he added, “The bad news is that I still lost by three strokes to Rabbi Tiger Woods.”

We may laugh at that fictional story, but the truth is it is very easy to “look out for number one” at the expense of others. In fact, putting ourselves and our interests first comes naturally to most of us. And yet God invites us to live differently, living not only for ourselves but for others.

Jesus famously speaks about this very thing in Matthew 22:37-40, And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”

We have likely heard these words many times in our lives. However, the question must be asked, “What does it look like, in everyday life, to truly love God and others?” Luckily the Bible provides the answer to the question.

In the Old Testament we read these specific ways to love God and others, “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth agains the life of your neighbor; I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:15-16)

In the New Testament the Apostle Paul gives us this principle, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Phillipians 2:4-7)

The bottom line is we were made for more than just entertaining ourselves and addressing our wants. We were created in God’s image to love God with everything we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Why not give this way of living a try today? I guarantee you’ll be glad you did!