36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
One of the Pharisees tested Jesus with the question in verse 36. It was to try discount Jesus' authority of having any say in what was considered their area of expertise. And Jesus silences them with His answer.
Jesus exemplified the life of Loving God and Loving Others. He fulfilled the law not just by taking the punishment of the law, but by showing us how the heart of the law is to be lived out.
This love God calls us to is not based on emotions, it's based on commitment and action. It is a covenant kind of love. This love is the love God has shown us and that we are to show God. We are to mimic His sacrificial, faithful and steadfast love with the same consistency He does.
To love others as we love ourselves simply means we extend to others the same kind of personal concern that we have for ourselves. We are willing "put ourselves in their shoes" and love them where they are as if we were there ourselves.
I don't know about you, but I have a long way to go in loving God this way and loving others this way. It's called the greatest commandment, not the easiest.
No comments:
Post a Comment