Dear friends,

There’s only six days left until the release of Reviving the Golden Rule on October 2nd. The book will also be available as an audiobook wherever you enjoy listening. 

Today I’m sharing a 60-second meditation on “the one thing” that Paul said is truly worthy of our attention. In our world of radical complexity clamoring for our attention, recentering in this offers clarity and conviction. I’m also sharing Part 2 of my conversation about the book with Lisa Jernigan on the Amplify Peace Podcast.

I hope you’ll pre-order your copy of Reviving the Golden Rule, gift one for a neighbor, and join me in this healing work of renewal.

The One Thing

“[All moral imperatives] are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor.”

– Paul (Romans 13:9-10)

The Roman Empire idolized power and prosperity. Its culture normalized violence, especially against people labeled “enemies.” So when Paul wrote to Jesus’ first followers in Rome, he clarified the “one” thing that truly matters: loving others as ourselves. And authentic love requires doing “no harm” to anyone. Over the centuries, this movement of nonviolent love daringly defied dehumanization. It has advanced human dignity in remarkable ways across the earth.

Which “others” do we still not see as neighbors? How will you participate in extending Jesus’ neighbor-love movement today?

This meditation was originally published by Red Letter Christians on August 14, 2025. Dig deeper into the biblical foundations of the golden rule in my book Reviving the Golden Rule: How the Ancient Ethic of Neighbor Love Can Heal the World (IVP Academic), out on October 2nd. 

Amplify Peace Podcast Pt. 2:

What If You Got It Wrong about the Other?

In my previous post, I shared Part 1 of my conversation with Lisa Jernigan, president of Amplify Peace and a peacemaker I hold in deep affection and admiration. In Part 2 of our conversation, we talk about how we see others and the ways we easily misperceive one another. I tell a story about meeting a man named Jihad in Ethiopia and how he completely transformed what I think of when I hear the word “jihad.”

Lisa and I zero in on how we cultivate relationship with people of other faiths and cultural identities as a practice of following Jesus. Again and again, this practice of the golden rule begins with simple but powerful decisions: being curious about one another, listening to each other, and seeking one another’s wellbeing no matter what.

In our time of rising polarization, I hope this conversation energizes you to revive the golden rule. Like Paul wrote, may this be “the one thing” we refuse to comprise. Listen on your preferred platform here.

Yours with anticipation,

Andrew