We all recall what Jesus said the two greatest commandments are, right?
Matthew 22:36-39(ESV)
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And he said to him,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I like Luke’s account of the story, too, noting what we must do to inherit eternal life:
Luke 10:25-28 (ESV)
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying,
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
And he answered,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
And He (Jesus) said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
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Think about Jesus’ short life on this earth.
What did Jesus come to show us most of all?
Yes, Jesus came to show us how to LOVE…how to live out the two greatest commandments…
….Loving the Lord our God will all our heart, soul and mind
….Loving others as yourself
Didn’t Jesus continually pray to God often taking time away for some quiet to converse with God?
Didn’t Jesus continually seek God’s will for His life, even surrendering to God’s plan of dying on the cross to set all of us free?
Didn’t Jesus, even at the young age of 12, show how much He loved God when He was left in the Temple, forsaking His human family, where He was seeking to learn more of God?
Think about all the people Jesus associated with and loved….
from the woman caught in adultery,
to the leper,
to the rich man who didn’t want to give up his possessions,
to Judas, His betrayer.
Yes, Jesus even loved his betrayer…Jesus included him as a friend to share in His Last Supper!
One of Jesus’ greatest acts of love was loving those who were putting Him to death….a brutal death hanging on the cross.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. –Luke 23:34 (NIV)
Isn’t that true love? Asking God to forgive those who are killing you for, in truth, no valid reason?
Yes, Jesus even loved the outcasts, the marginalized, and the sinners!
I have not found any person or story in the Bible that would refute
the statement that Jesus loved everyone!
Photo courtesy of Leonard J Matthews under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Take a few moments to think about and evaluate how well you live out those two greatest commandments.
What does it look like in your life….
Do you really love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind?
…Do you strive to put God above all else, all other false gods in your life?
…Do you continually converse with God throughout the day, not just once a week when you might go to church?
…Do you take time to listen to God, not just ask Him for things?
…Do you take time each day to be still with God, to dig into His word and see how it applies to your life?
Do your actions really show that you love your neighbor, all those you know and see, even strangers, like yourself?
An acquaintance recently told this story that brought to me a whole new level of meaning to what loving your neighbor means that I wanted to share with you….
Photo courtesy of Sapphire Dream Photography under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
When this person was going through training to be a volunteer for a ministry to those who are dying, there was one thing that really bothered them that almost led them to abandon their thought of being a volunteer. It was the idea that they might have to tend to the needs of an incontinent person….perhaps changing them and cleaning them up. They wrestled with the idea for awhile and kept trying to figure out why it bothered them so.
One day when they were babysitting their two year old grandson and they had to change his diaper, it suddenly hit them what the ministry issue was about……
Photo courtesy of Alex. Louis Engival under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); word added by hopetoinspireyou.com
They had such great unconditional love for their grandson that changing a diaper was not bothersome.
But, could they have that same unconditional love for a stranger, who in reality, Jesus calls their neighbor?
Could they humble himself,
be vulnerable enough,
and bring themself to clean and change someone,
a stranger,
a neighbor who was in need?
In their case, they were able to finally say yes, if they had to, they would be willing to LOVE a stranger and do anything the person needed physically; they were at peace and willing to be a ministry volunteer to the dying….and even better yet is that they have NOT, even once, had to face that situation through the years!
So, think in your life,
Do you really LOVE your neighbor….
are you willing to humble yourself,
be vulnerable,
surrendering your pride
and willing to meet whatever their needs may be?
Does your love know no boundaries doing whatever it takes to put that LOVE into action….to live out Jesus’ commandment to love others as yourself?
With Jesus giving us the two greatest commandments, a natural flow from that is to know that we, too, are given the great commission…
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” –Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)
This week may I encourage you to try living out the two greatest commandments even a little more? Keep stretching yourself and growing in Him, reflecting Him to all you meet, and make disciples of all!
This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. –John 15:12-13 (NLT)
