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7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Digital Marketing Strategy

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It’s a sad fact is that most companies don’t have a planned digital marketing strategy. They just go by the seat of their pants, doing a little here and a little there. But, if you develop a proper digital marketing strategy, you can avoid a lot of issues and create a more integrated marketing approach.

Here are 7 reasons why your business needs a digital marketing strategy.

1. Provides Direction and Focus

You’ve heard the saying that if you try to drive somewhere without knowing where you’re going, you won’t ever get there. Your marketing needs a goal and a plan to get to that goal, taking steps that you know work or testing steps to find out if they work.

2. Promotes a More Focused Brand Voice

When you have a plan, you can ensure that all your marketing materials (including images, content, and voice) match your brand. When you’re doing things at the last minute, it may not match. Having a plan is always a better approach to help spread awareness of your brand.

3. Assists with Developing a Strong Value Proposition

When you take the time to plan out your marketing strategy, it’s a lot easier to maintain your value proposition throughout all the different platforms.

4. Helps You Get to Know Your Audience Better

When you develop a digital marketing strategy, you need to do your research so that you get to know your audience better. Plus, you will check your stats more often, which will help you get to know your audience even better and how they respond to different offers.

5. Better and More Effective Marketing Integration

When you develop a plan, the great result is that you can more easily integrate all platforms together in a cohesive marketing plan that makes sense and gets results.

6. Avoids Wasting Resources

When you create a plan, it will help you avoid wasting anything. You’ll be able to see ways in which you can reuse content, graphics, and information to market across all your digital channels, without having to start fresh each time which can cause resources to be wasted.

7. Know Where to Optimize Your Efforts

When you write out the plan, you’ll notice gaps in it and be able to optimize your efforts better. You’ll test out landing pages, test headlines, test graphics, and find out what works best as you move forward with your plan.

This doesn’t have to be super-complicated to work. But, having a plan means you know where you want to go and have set goals with actions to get you to that goal. It also means that if something is not working to get you to your goal, you can change directions because you’re paying attention as to whether it’s working or not working.

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Source by Jon Allo

Views: 0

July 26, 2022
Why Are Organic Social Media Fans Important for MLM Success?

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MLM success is fun and profitable but there is a dark side that has pulled people into doing unethical marketing. It's fun to watch social accounts climb in popularity, however it can be done in the wrong fashion. Organic social growth is the only way to go. Most social media sites are watching for black tactics that enables accounts to grow at a rapid rate and many of the followers are not existent. They can cause problems for your account especially when you're sharing content.

Your MLM success is based on the attracting and retaining leads and converting them into teammates. If social media sites catch you using unethical means to build your account, they will likely warn you before they shut down your account. That is not the worst of it most search engines especially Google are keeping an eye on this as well and will punish your content or website for bad social growth. Social media traffic is heavily weighed on search engines now. This means that your social media content has more points on search engines than it ever did.

Building organic social media fans for MLM success

You need to have an organic following to gain rankings in search engines now. This is the only acceptable method to stay "clean" with Google. You should never pay for followers. It's already difficult to weed out fake fans from the real ones. However, the real ones will engage with you from time to time. In some cases, most of the time if they love your content and you're responsive to them.

To build future MLM success, you know you need to be responsive, create lovable content and be available in the online and offline world. Your content will come in different styles and flavors because no two prospects are alike in their journey. The content needs to touch on their pains and their journey stage. Once you have your campaign outline, you can develop short and long form content to help you achieve results. Be open to game changers, sometimes you may need to throw a curve ball instead of a fastball. You can throw in a webinar or a workbook to make things more engaging or simple.

Engaging with your fans is a great to get your messages spread across the internet. They already like some of your stuff, so why not give them something for free. This can help you gain new sources of traffic and fans.

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Source by David L. Feinstein

Views: 0

July 26, 2022
The Unique Power of Ayurveda to Heal Any Health Problem
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The amazing power of Ayurveda

What comes to our mind if we think about any types of treatment? It will obviously be allopathy or homeopathy. No wonder that Ayurveda secures no position in the list of the trustworthiness in the mind of many people. This Ayurveda has some kind of power which will go deep inside or in the root to eradicate any disease. This medication, from ancient time, is somehow overlooked or ignored by the users. The Ayurvedic Medicines exist or not we rarely bother! Things will get changed once you start believing it.

Ayurveda works if someone trusts

The young generation has a tendency to give a stare to these age-old medicines. They consider this type of medicine belongs to the pre-historic era. Ayurvedic treatment needs patience as well as time. All those who are in a hurry; this type of medicines will not be good for them. You can rely on Ayurveda if you enough time to use it regularly, without making any kind of mistakes. These Ayurvedic Medicines have no side effect. Yes, because of the main ingredients of this medicineor herbs. Taste-wise it will not be great of course. There are so many people who all have shown their faith in Ayurveda and got the desired result. You can be one of them easily. The biggest benefit of this Ayurveda is that it is not costly. Any and every kind of health related problems can easily be resolved by the touch of Ayurveda.

Why should you switch over to Ayurveda?
- A non-curable disease like Cancer and all can be cured by the power of herbs.
- Those who all are afraid of operations, this will be the greatest option for them. Ayurveda believes that surgery is the last step.
- Chronic diseases can easily get cured by Ayurveda medicines.
- These medicines are free from chemicals. That means no worry of side effects at all.
- Consumption of these types of medicines will cure the problem as well as develop the overall health condition by increasing the rate of metabolism, decrease the level of stress and bring back the obstinacy back into your life.
- These types of medicines will go to the root to eradicate the problem. That means that particular person will not suffer from the same problem again.
Availability of these Ayurveda medicines

Ayurvedic Medicines Manufacturers and dealers must be there in your locality also. Why don’t you visit one of those medicine shops and read out the compositions of these medicines by yourself to kick away all misconception regarding Ayurveda and its result? At that time only you will start believing in the magic of Ayurveda.

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Source by Samaria Thomas

Views: 0
July 26, 2022
Sweden – Utopia For Multi Level Marketing (MLM) Business

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The general thought and notion of the Swede is for them to be reserved, quiet and maybe stick to themselves more then other more outspoken and spontaneous populations.

Is this really a good environment for a multi level marketing business to thrive and for its representatives to earn not only additional income but considerable salaries?

Well, that is not the truth about the Swede, so Yes.

Sweden is a great market for networking and MLM business.

The facts paints a completely different picture.

• Sweden is in the 6th nation in Europe in direct selling.

• Usually make-up, juices, cleaning supplies, nutrition etc

Federation of European Direct Selling Associations,

“European Direct Selling Statistics – 2010 Retail Sales”. 2010. Accessed Jan 28 2011.

Key Indicators

• Direct selling has increased with an average 10% per year over the last 5 years

• 95% is part time and 5% is full time within direct selling

• 95% is part time and 5% is full time with direct selling

• 75% women and 25% are men

Some of the products that through time have been most prominent in the Swedish market are:

• Cosmetic, Skin- and Body products

• Laundry – Cleaning Supplies and House-ware

• Groceries, Nutritional Products

• Books

• Child Clothes

Sweden is THE place to be for any multi-level marketing, direct selling or network marketing business that wants to go for the masses. To add on to the already existing growing population of marketers in Sweden, there is now an explosive demand for home based Internet companies with a low initial start up cost. For any Swede who wants to get serious and wants to get into the business, find yourself a good solid business, which fits your interest and market. Find a team within that business that you would like to work with, get excited, get going and never quit!

The general conception is that this type of business is only for the young and technology savvy individuals… The largest growing age segment on Facebook is the 60+. That means that all these baby-boomers, who are set to control the global markets over the next 20 years, are now connecting on Facebook. The marketers and companies who tap into that “network” will have a large potential lead pool.

With the changing population of participants in the online communities and with the statistics above, we show Sweden to be a fruitful direct selling market. If you know someone or have connections on the Swedish market. Go for it!

“European Direct Selling Statistics – 2010 Retail Sales”

http://www.fedsa.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=8

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Source by Jonas Carlsward

Views: 0

July 26, 2022
Why Sales Doesn’t Have to Be a Numbers Game

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Telling stories is a great teaching tool to use in many fields, especially sales. At one of our recent workshops on pain, a participant from a technology company shared a story about an experience he had at a big-box TV store. This person went in to the store to learn more about flat screen TVs, with no intention of buying. He just wanted more information so he could make an educated decision when it came time to buy a TV, and get the best deal online, not at a store.

When our participant entered the store, he was greeted right away by a sales person, and before he knew it, the sales person was telling him all about the great features and benefits of each widescreen TV. The sales person never asked a single question about why he was visiting the store, or if he’d even been there before. The sales person was nice but never uncovered any pain. All he did was say, “Can I help you?”, and then proceeded to “spill his candy all over the lobby”, and give our participant all the ammunition he needed to go get his best deal online. The sales person never had a chance to close the deal.

Far too often, salespeople try to spill their candy in the lobby for a living. They throw information and free advice and their own time and money and resources against a wall hoping some of it will stick. “If I go to enough networking events, if I make enough new prospecting calls, if I talk about my product enough, if I ask enough people if they need this for their business, and if I make enough cold calls, then I’ll be successful.”

The numbers game is one way you can approach your career, but it requires a lot of work, and it often wastes a lot of time. On the other hand, the Sandler System is all about working smarter, not harder. Furthermore, if you combine the same tenacity and work smartly to uncover a prospect’s pain, you will become a Robo-Salesperson. Armed with new, effective questioning strategies and proven sales techniques, you will discover the prospects’ problems and deep-seated emotional needs, pains, and desires to find solutions (ones that you can provide). This will result in dramatically increasing your sales and reducing your work time and stress that goes with it.

Another participant in our Sandler Sales program sells gauges to machine shops and other companies. This guy is very meticulous and had a phone prospecting system he followed diligently, but when he left messages, very few returned his calls. Sound familiar? Well, this guy enrolled in our advanced training program and he carefully tracked all his results. Here’s what he found:

After the first year of learning the Sandler Sales System, his market of selling to machine shops experienced a 5% decline, however, his personal sales went up 28.6%. Since he worked on a straight commission, his personal income went up an equal amount. So, his income went from $93,000 up to $119,598. Our sales guy attributed this to learning how to leave an effective voicemail message, encouraging his prospects to call back, and it worked. After his second year in the Sandler course, his sales went up another 32.3% and his income increased to $158,228. Why? He became more effective at closing deals. In the first two years in the training program, he had boosted his commissions by 70%. The bottom line, none of his success would have happened without learning to uncover his prospects’ pain.

By the way, if you’re one of those people who believe “you can’t teach on old dog new tricks,” check this out. This guy wasn’t a kid. He was about 50 years old when he started learning the Sandler way, and still made those drastic improvements. I’m happy to say that 14 years later, he continues to attend and take advantage of our President’s Club classes. This sales leader is committed to being at the forefront of his industry’s selling knowledge curve and providing for his family, himself, and his own retirement.

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Source by Greg Nanigian

Views: 0

July 26, 2022
Free Online Dating: Tips and Advice

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Are you a real “newbie” to the world of free online dating? Do you find online dating foreign? Fret not, dear readers. Here are some online dating tips to assist you in enjoying the experience.

Your Username

Let’s start at the beginning. It’s great to choose a username that makes you stand out. Just remember, though, there is a big difference between being very clever and being so obscure your username goes right over the heads of potential partners.

If someone is already using your first choice for a name, just let it go. Obviously, it wasn’t that clever after all. Avoid using provocative pen names. Not everyone has a sense of humor when it comes to online dating, especially if you are hoping to find a long-term relationship.

Your Profile

A profile that is carefully composed is essential to a successful online dating experience. The profile area is your space to present not only your biographical information but also other special personal information, pictures of yourself and some details of what you are seeking in terms of a date and/or potential mate. Don’t stress it though, because while you only get one chance to make a good first impression on a date, you get as many chances as you want on your free online dating profile. Get together with a friend or two when you’re ready to build your profile. They can help in choosing the best pictures.

Your Photographs

All your photographs should be under seven months old unless specifically designated otherwise. Your main photo should be a headshot. People should be able to see your eyes. In fact, there are free online dating sites that will suspend your photo posting privileges if your main photo does not show your eyes.

You should also include at least one full body shot too. This way, when you do score a first date, there will no concern about how “different” you look in person. Don’t post too many pictures that include other people who might hide the real you or confuse others as to your dating status either.

Keep all your profile photographs updated. Include supplemental photos of you enjoying your favorite pastime or perhaps pics from recent vacations. They can give you something to talk about.

Your Headline

Your headline should make a statement about you or maybe answer a basic question like: “What qualities am I looking for in a man/woman?” Again though, don’t be so clever; you may lose your “reader”.

Your Description

Your description should focus on three separate sections. The first concerns who you really are and some of the different things you enjoy doing. The second might be more about your personal habits or just about anything unusual or unique that makes you stand out from the crowd. The third one should discuss your current activities, books you have read and films you have seen recently.

Additional Tips

Finally, try to be brief. Share, but be careful you don’t share too much. Find a comfortable middle ground between letting them know something about you and removing all the mystery. Use spell check, too. You don’t want a profile that looks thrown together.

To summarize these online dating tips, you want to give people an honest representation of yourself, both physically and mentally. Specify a few things that make you stand out. If you took time off to protest at Standing Rock or have a unique collection of some sort, include that. It will get people’s attention.

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Source by Pete Nyandeh

Views: 0

July 26, 2022
The Secrets of Juicing: How To Heal Your Organs

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Do you ever feel like you want to eat more vegetables, but don’t know how to incorporate them in your diet? Well, juicing is the answer, people. Juicing is a great way to add a boatload of nutrients to your diet in a quick and efficient way. Drinking freshly made raw juice can help give your body extra fuel and a healthy boost.

Making the jump to juicing is an investment. We are going to let you in a secret, though. If you don’t want to buy a juicer, you can make fresh smoothies and get the same benefits (plus a bunch of dietary fiber) by blending all of the ingredients. But if you’re the kind of person that likes a smooth and light juice, go ahead and get a juicer.

Let’s be clear: juicing is not the only way to stay healthy. It also doesn’t balance out the junk food or processed foods you eat. Juicing is just a great way to channel your life in a healthy direction. Considering that most health officials say that it is good to get about 6-8 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, juicing can almost guarantee you those servings.

There are some awesome benefits of juicing, the number one being that it can help to nourish and heal your organs. Different vegetables contain vitamins and minerals that can be beneficial for your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and your skin. These organs are vital in carrying out your body’s primary functions. If one or more of your organs is functioning improperly, your body will suffer. This is where juicing or cleansing can come to save the day.

Not everyone is aware of all the benefits of every fruit and vegetable. It’s pretty hard to retain all that info. So we’ve decided to give you a few juice recipes that’ll help out your major organs, because they deserve all the help they can get. All you have to do is process the ingredients in a juicer and drink the juice. It’s that easy.

Heart Health Juice: 1 Apple, 1 Beet, 6 carrots, ½ Lemon (peeled), and 2 Oranges (peeled).

This juice is packed with vitamin C, which helps nourish tissues and build cells.

The Eye Opener: 2 Apples, 10 Carrots, and 2 Oranges (peeled).

Quick Tip: when you make this juice, or any juice, you can use fruits and veggies that are about to spoil, so you don’t waste them.

The Best Juice for Your Liver: 2 Beets, 2 Carrots, 2 Celery Stalks, 4 handfuls of Parsley, 1 Jalapeño, 6 Radishes, and 4 Plum Tomatoes.

This juice has a little kick from the radish and pepper, but it helps your liver flush toxins out of your body.

Summer Breeze: 4 fresh Basil leaves, 1.5 cups Blueberries, 2 pinches Cayenne Pepper, ½ Lime (peeled), and 5 cups Watermelon (diced).

This juice has all the best flavors of summer. Here’s a secret, the watermelon rind is great for smoothing out roughage in your colon.

Skin So Health: 3 fresh Basil leaves, 10 Carrots, ½ Lemon (peeled), and 4 Peaches.

This juice helps rejuvenate your skin. Add a little organic coconut oil to the juice for an added benefit.

When you are juicing, you can always add water because that’ll help your digestion, speed up your metabolism, and give your cells some extra fuel. Share some of your favorite juice recipes with us and don’t be afraid to get a little creative.

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Source by Vinnie Stevens

Views: 0

July 25, 2022
Choosing the Best Suboxone Doctor

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Addiction is a growing problem in the world today and it is very important that you find a solution as soon as you notice that you have an issue. For opiate addiction like prescription drugs or heroin, the Suboxone is the first drug that you may consider. The drug is effective in the treatment of opiate addiction symptoms. It works well because it is a partial opiate. This only means that has an opiate effect that is controlled. It is effective for people who are going through opiate withdrawal.

The treatment aids in decreasing the pain of the withdrawal symptoms and detoxify your body from any opiates that may be in your system.

Why you need to choose a Suboxone doctor

Suboxone is a very powerful drug, which has to be prescribed by a doctor who has been approved to administer it. You need to choose the right doctor near you. Before doing this, it is necessary to talk to your primary care provider who is very established in the treatment of addiction. This is the best person to direct you to any specialized doctors that you may need in the course of your treatment to ensure that you get well quick.

There are different directories that you can use to do a quick search and find the best doctor for your problem. You need to ensure that the provider is reputable and a doctor and he should also have a history of treating patients with your kind of addiction. There are doctors who choose to manipulate the process while others overcharge the services. Shop around to get prices and compare before making a decision.

The best thing to do is to list around three of the best providers. You need to ensure that they are in your area. Many of the clinics have very strict regulations about how many patients can be treated at one given time. There are many clinics that have to operate at full capacity and therefore you need to look at as many as you want before finding one that is ready to accept new patients.

The cost

The treatment prices can vary from one doctor to the next. It also depends on how much of the treatment you really need. Most insurance companies do not cover addiction so you may have to pay a great part of the fees or even the entire amount. This can be an expensive thing but can also save you a lot eventually because of the potential health implications that may befall you because of using drugs. The price is also worthwhile because you will not have to spend any more money on drugs.

Some of the doctors allow insurance, but they are rather hard to locate. It is for this reason that you should do as much research as possible to land the best deal ever. This may be the medication that you need to finally deal with the habit that can be very destructive. It is always better to deal with any kind of addiction sooner than later.

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Source by Shalini Madhav

Views: 0

July 25, 2022
Telecommuting: How It Supports A Green Lifestyle

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These days people are more interested in saving time energy, and ways to make their lives easier and more productive all at once.Our world is changing fast and sometimes it is hard to keep up.

Being a Baby boomer in a world filled with so many technical challenges to learn and keep up with can be a little intimidating. It is important though to familiarize yourself and try to keep up to date with how to stay connected without losing yourself in the mix. But working from home has improved my overall attitude about work, and has helped me to be more productive, and creative while at the same time helping to do my part in working towards a Greener way of living.

How I am benefiting from working at home

First I am saving money on gas every week! And although the price of gas has gone down, I am taking that money that I saved, and putting it towards investing in my business. I choose my own hours to work and by working in blocks of time, I can manage to get many things accomplished in an allotted amount of time, and also take breaks and a walk or do some yoga stretches in between.

Eating a healthy meal through the day is important to me being vegan, and health conscious of what I am feeding my body as well as my mind. I can eat at leisure setting a block of time, just for eating as well as for breaks and I still get everything accomplished in an efficient and timely manner. Still being professional and at the same time taking good care of myself, so I can work at my optimum best.

Telecommuting can ease the stress of having to commute back and forth to work in bad weather. It will definitely save some wear and tear on your vehicle and tires and save the time it would take to get back and forth from work. It can also save you money on dry cleaning costs!

Another great reason to work from home and help support a green lifestyle, because dry cleaning uses Perchloroethylene, a toxic chemical that is very harmful to our environment, and if you are concerned with helping reduce toxins you can look up where to find a green dry cleaner in your area instead.

Working from home enables you to work for longer periods and more comfortably by being in surroundings that are stress-free and conducive to your overall benefit. Create a workspace free of clutter. Make sure you have some water to keep hydrated. Have all of the tools and implements you may need close by to help you work efficiently, and so you do not have to keep getting up and down. Turn off all distractions unless some soft music in the background helps. And enjoy creating those masterpieces!

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Source by Debbie Frye

Views: 0

July 25, 2022
Love One Another (A Sermon on John 13: 31-35)
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We are in the 13th chapter of the Gospel according to St John's this week, and I'm going to unpack our reading verse by verse as it is a difficult passage.

"When he had gone out, Jesus said," Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. " (John 13:31)

The person who had 'gone out' was Judas, and the sentence seems to suggest that Judas' leaving somewhat brought glory to Jesus, which sounds really odd.

"If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once." (John 13:32)

I really have no idea where to begin with that statement!

"Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'" (John 13:33 )

That statement makes sense to us as Jesus speaking about his own impending suffering and death, though at the time it made no sense at all to His disciples.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. "(John 13: 34-45)

That concluding pronouncement, I suspect, is the most difficult to understand of all!

"All you need is love!" – so said the Beatles.

When I read statements like these from the lips of Jesus, I can almost hear the soundtrack of that well-known Beatles song playing in the background.

"Love is all you need. Love is all you need …"

It's not true, of course. Love isn't all we need – not in relationships, not in families, not in governments.

We had an election yesterday. Did you vote for the most loving candidate? Should you have?

I tried to give some thought after reading this passage as to who the most loving candidate for electoral office was. It wasn't obvious.

It didn't take me long to come up with the names of politicians who were definitely NOT full of love and sweetness, but it seemed less obvious to me which candidates actually were.

Did the candidate who loves us the most win? Do we care?

In truth, in as much as we might say, "all we need is love" , I don't think we really care whether our political leaders love us, any more than we really care whether our boss at work truly loves us. Love is not all we need. A good capacity for management is probably far more important in cases like this than is love!

Love is not all we need in government or in families, and it's not even all we need in a system of morality! This might sound counterintuitive. Is not all of morality – all our statements about what is right and what is wrong – really an extension of that basic ideal of love?

Certainly, over the generations, scores of philosophers and other great thinkers have suggested that all of our moral intuitions can be reduced to one simple exhortation – if not 'to love' exactly, to something very akin to that.

The British philosopher, John Stuart Mill, saw all of morality as a system of increasing pleasure for people and reducing harm. He is probably best remembered for his 'harm principle' :

"That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others."

I have a feeling that if you'd asked Mill what the essence of morality was, he might not have said 'love one another' , but might well have said 'don't' harm one another ' , which is pretty similar.

Likewise, the great 18th century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, believed that morality could be reduced to a single maxim – the 'categorical imperative' :

"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law."

That's always sounded to me like a really complex way of saying 'love your neighbor as you would love yourself " , which, of course, was Jesus' 'golden rule' that many people see as being His one-line summary of the moral law , along with the first and great commandment, of course, that you have to love God:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. " (Matthew 22: 37-40)

We are familiar with these commandments. We hear them every week in church, and they do seem to suggest that everything in the law of God comes down to love, and that the rest is just commentary.

Is that really what Jesus was saying? St Augustine thought so, and in my previous sermons on these passages, I have suggested exactly that – that there is really only one law of God – that we love – and that the rest is just application. My more recent reading though has suggested that it's actually a lot more complicated than that, at least if Jesus really was being true to His Hebraic tradition.

The Hebraic law centers around the Ten Commandments – the ten words of God to the people of Israel – and while it seems straightforward to see commandments like "thou shalt not steal" and "thou shalt not murder" as being extensions of the commandment to love , other commandments like "honor thy father and thy mother" do not seem to be so easily reducible. Honoring your father and your mother seems to be more about respecting authority than it is about love .

I've been reading a very interesting book lately by moral psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, called "the Righteous Mind" , in which he outlines what he calls 'moral foundation theory' .

I'm not suggesting that everyone should rush out to get a copy of this book. It is not an easy read and could prove difficult if you don't have an academic background in the study of philosophical ethics (which, thankfully, I do).

The author's key point, at any rate, is that our moral intuitions can't be reduced to any one simple maxim such as 'love one another' as morality is invariably more complex than that.

Haidt suggests that there are five reasonably independent dimensions to our moral awareness, and 'caring' for others is just one of those dimensions. The others are:
- Fairness (which is all about justice, rewards and punishments)
- Loyalty (which is associated with values such as faithfulness and patriotism )
- Authority (where you honor your father and your mother, king and country)
- Sanctity (which involves respecting your body and potentially embracing things like chastity, temperance and cleanliness)
Forgive me if I'm now sounding more dry and esoteric than the book I mentioned. My point is actually a simple one – that 'all you need is love' is both simplistic and inadequate. We don't only need love – not if we are going to be successful in our relationships or in all of life. We actually need a lot of things – courage, self-discipline, wisdom, nurture and support and a good education, and more!

Of course, Jesus didn't say "love is all you need". That was ' The Beatles' . What Jesus did say was "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" . In other words, Jesus didn't say that love is all we need to live a full and productive life. What He said was that it was all we needed in order to show the world that we are His disciples. That might sound like much the same thing but it's actually quite distinct.

The life of love is not a strategy for success, despite what any number of tele-evangelists might have told you. Indeed, if it's right to consider it a strategy at all, the life of love could only be a strategy for getting yourself killed. That's certainly how it worked for Jesus.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that friend who said to me "I'm sick of hearing people tell me about all the problems they had before they met Jesus and how He solved them all for them. till I met Jesus! "

That's difficult to hear, I think. We don't want to think of Jesus as the one who leads us down a path of suffering and misery. We want to think of Jesus as one who elevates us to heavenly places.

Isn't that what religion is for after all? Isn't good religion supposed to benefit our lives and help us live more fully and peacefully with a great sense of purpose and fulfillment? Surely, it's not just about suffering in this world so that we can enjoy a better life in the next? Surely there's more to it than that?

I don't think Jesus is saying that discipleship is all about suffering any more than it is all about success. Discipleship, Jesus says, is all about love, and everything else depends on what Jesus means by love .

Jesus says His command to love is a new commandment, and that's a surprise. Certainly, the commandment to love is as old as the Scriptures themselves, so it must be the latter part of the commandment – to love one another ' as I have loved you' – that makes it new.

When we hear those words, I suspect most of us immediately think of the cross and Jesus laying down his life for us. That makes sense, and indeed the same Gospel writer, John, writes in his first letter "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). Even so, without wanting to press the issue of the timeline too heavily, the exhortation we have in today's Gospel reading -to love one another "as I have loved you" happens before the cross, suggesting that the model on view here may not be the death of Jesus but the life of Jesus!

Further, as noted, today's reading begins with a reference to Judas – "when he had gone out" – and Jesus' exhortation to love each other as He has loved us comes immediately before the two terrible betrayals from disciples whom Jesus had just broken bread with and whose feet Jesus had just washed – the one betrayal being from Judas, of course, and the other one being from dear Peter!

Jesus loved Peter, was betrayed by Peter, and would eventually be reconciled with Peter. Jesus loved Judas but would never be reconciled with him. Even perfect love does not guarantee a perfect ending to the story. Even so, love anyway – that's the new commandment .

Yes, "greater love has no one than this – to lay down one's life for their friends" (John 15: 3). That is true, and bodily self-sacrifice is indeed the ultimate example of love, but most of the time love is not so grandiose and (thankfully) not quite so painful. The far more common (and in some ways more difficult) labor of love is the ongoing work of having to forgive those who fail us, and sometimes fail us very badly.

This, I believe, is the love by which everyone will now that we are His disciples – it's the love that breaks bread with those who betray us and that washes the feet of those who turn their backs on us. It's the love that finds its ultimate inspiration in the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, but which likewise finds daily encouragement in the simple acts of grace shown by Jesus towards those whom He knew would radically fail Him.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. "(John 13: 34-45)

It's not a strategy for success. It's not a means to a better life or more successful relationships. It's just the way that we demonstrate to the world that we are followers of Jesus. We break bread, we wash feet, we empathise, we forgive. We love one another just as He loved us.

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Source by David B. Smith

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July 25, 2022