Love

³⁶Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

 ³⁷Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 ³⁸This is the first and great commandment.

 ³⁹And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

-Matthew 22:36-41 (KJV)

We've been studying about the will of God. We've looked at how we must have a mind transformed by God to be able to know what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. Do you have that mind? Do you have a mind that is transformed by God? You will never be able to know what that good, acceptable and perfect will of God is if you mind is still conformed to this world. I think that was a problem of the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus' time. They had their minds set on earthly things, like wealth, praise of men and the power to judge others. They didn't have their minds transformed to look at the things of God. I think that is what led them to this discussion with Jesus. 

Verse 36 says, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Had these men been asking with a pure heart and truly wanting to know so they could follow God better, this would have been a great question. After all, who of us doesn't want to know what the most important thing to know is? Keep in mind, these religious leaders had a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament Law, or the Law of Moses. They knew it inside out, they could probably tell it backwards. They were trying to trap Jesus into saying something wrong, something that they could get rid of Him for. Look at His answer in verses 37-39, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Basically, Jesus is saying that we must love God with everything we have, and love others like we love ourselves. Love God, Love Others. That is the great commandment, the most important thing we as Christians must do. I asked in yesterday's post, do you show your love by words, or by your actions? Do you just say "I love God" but do nothing to prove that love? I want to say that love comes natural to us, but if you really think about it, it doesn't. Love is something we have to work on. All of us is a product of our surroundings. All of us think like those around us, we talk like those around us, we live like those around us. More often than not, we don't really love others enough like we should. But Jesus says that love is the most important command. How can you say, "I love God" and do nothing to prove it? How can you say "I love you" to your neighbor, your husband, your wife, your children, and not prove it? Valentine's day is just a couple of days away, and many men will be buying heart shaped boxes of chocolate and dozens of red roses (which have gone up in price!) to show their love for their wife or girlfriend. Then, a few days later the relationship is over because they didn't really "love" each other. Friends, we must love one another, and we must love God if we are going to live the successful Christian life. Jesus says that love is the most important commandment. He says in verse 40 that all the things taught by the Law and the prophets can be summed up in love. 

Do you love God today? Sadly, many people will sit in church today and not really love God. They will sit in church today and not love God. Do you love others today? How can you say you love God, but hate someone else? It can't be done. As we go through this day, let your love for God and for others be shown, not just spoken about. Think About It.