Matthew 22-37-39, 37 “He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
I’ve heard some say we need to love people equally. Others have said, it’s pretty simple, love God and love others. I’m sure we’ve all heard, “love is love.” To signify, it doesn’t matter who you love or how. But there is a prerequisite to loving other people.
That is ‘you have to love God first.’
Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21, Jesus says, “The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.” John 14:23, “‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.”
Obedience To God
To love God is to obey Him. Just as a loving child adores his parent. Seeks to please them and is hurt when they feel they have failed in doing so. Obedience to His commands are evidence that we trust He is telling us the truth. It reveals that we believe He loves us and desires the best for us. God is honored!
When we fail to care about the things God cares for, we are showing we are not interested in what He thinks. We care about ourselves. That person does not love God. Maybe they do not even know Him. God’s Word tells us how to even love someone else. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). It is difficult to find such instructions without taking the time to read the Bible.
- God tells us to love Him with all our HEART. More than anyone else, you value Him! There are no other gods or idols besides Him. There is no Jesus plus. You exclusively belong to Him.
- God tells us to love Him with all our SOUL when we find our satisfaction in Him more than any other person or thing. Satisfied only with what pleases Him. What others think of us, especially negative, pales in comparison.
- God tells us to love Him with all our MIND when we make decisions to obey His every command. We may sway in areas or even be fearful, but His Word is the final authority in our decision-making. Asking ourselves, does this glorify Him?
Obeying His Word or commandments does not earn His love. Rather, valuing God and loving Him, caring about what He cares about, will cause you to want to be obedient! Obedience naturally follows.
Love Is A Choice
The love of God has nothing to do with something someone does for you. God chose to love us and bless us! His kind of love is not based on how we feel first. It’s not a human love. God loves us regardless of how we feel. There is nothing we can do about!
1 John 4:19, We love Him, because He first loved us.”
Christian Name
God draws us to even have relationship with Him. He created us to worship Him, (Revelations 4:10). When we start straying away from the things of God, we are not in this relationship. and we are not Christian either. The name Christian means ‘Christlike.’ Obeying His commandments. Walking like Jesus. Doing things like Jesus did. Following His teachings. If you are not endeavoring to do these, you are not a Christian.
What Would Jesus Do
Hebrews 12:6, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises (corrects) every son whom he receives.”
Yes, He loves people but whom He loves He warns they are going the wrong way! Jesus told those in error openly in public, if what you do is not from my Father, you are doing it because your father is the devil, (John 8:44). He further said, If you go with me, I do things like my Father. I walk like my Father. Whoever comes to me, he will be like Me. John 5:19, “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever ]the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.”
Because of God’s love, He promises, to make His home in us! He will fellowship with us! If we receive Jesus, His Son, as our Lord and Savior!
Revelations 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
Loving God Changes The Way You Love Others!
Amen!
Moses & Marguerite Wafula
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