Jesus said unto him, 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 neighbour as thyself. Matthew 22:37-39
One statement I often find myself making is “if we love God and our fellow man, the rest will fall into place”. The idea is that if we possess the proper love, we will devote ourselves to the level we will find ourselves both committed and successful. With the total devotion we are to have to God, He will no doubt occupy the place in our hearts that only our Heavenly Father should occupy. When we look at the spiritual status of our world, it’s easy to see this is not the case with the vast majority. Many are so devoted to worldliness they have no room for God in their hearts, however, it’s just as alarming for those who have some appreciation of God, yet refuse to love Him enough to dedicate to a life of faithfulness.
The reason we struggle with having this proper amount of love of God is often rooted in selfishness. Many balk at God, being less devoted to Him because it means giving up their way to follow His. Notice though the Apostle Paul’s philosophy in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”. While we are dealing with the emotion of love here, it is important to realize in Galatians chapter 2 Paul is dealing with the logical decision he has made to stand before God justified, faithful in Christ. Also, to love God and deny self is truly in our best interest. At some point, the Christian is to reach a level of maturity to accept that, 1 John 5:3 states, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous”.
With regards to loving our neighbor, Christ made it so simple. We are to give to our fellow man the same we wish to receive from them. Luke 6:31 says, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise”. We best demonstrate our love to all those around us by using our life, our brief time here on earth, to influence our fellow man to also love God and our fellow man as He has loved us.
Remember 1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God”.
By Jason Barger