The game of Chess is quite ancient with strategy as its focal point. Two players begin with sixteen pieces on the chessboard. The goal in the end is cornering the other opponent’s king.
Over the years the game has taken different forms. One method of playing is human chess, introduced around AD 735 by the Duke of Austrasia (now Austria). The Duke would play the game with real people as the pieces. People were costumed to reflect their status on the board and moved at the whim of the players. Literally manipulating these human chess pieces to their own ends.
The question at hand is, does this human version of the game of Chess play out in real life at times? Do we easily become so driven by our individual goals where people become just one more pawn we use to achieve them. To make this point clear, a Pawn is a piece on the chessboard which is often sacrificed to achieve a desired result.
We may read in the scriptures they call us to a different view of those around us. We are to see people as created in the image of God. All people are objects of God’s love and deserving of ours as well.
One of the apostle’s wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God”. Because God first loved us, we are to respond by loving Him and the people He created in God’s image.
Truly, knowing God’s desires for us to love one another rather than use each other is key to spreading real love. Share a time when you let God’s love flow focusing on someone else rather than your self. Please leave a comment, your share will certainly touch another. I will even write you back.
See you next Sunday.
MJ