The Greatest Love

The greatest commandment involves one of the most amazing virtues that any person can ever possess – love. Jesus shares, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He continues on to state that the second greatest commandment is like the first, which also involves love – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Finishing off the teaching with this stark revelation, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). Right love in the right objects equal right relationship and right living.

With Valentine’s Day this month, a lot of emphasis is put on love as an overwhelming feeling, a force that hits you that you have little to no control of. I don’t want to discount feeling and how there is an aspect of love that comes in this way. But we must understand that at best, this kind of love is unstable in the fact that it can come and go just as as the wind. However, the love that Jesus talks about in Matthew 22 is solid – the kind that is immovable. You can depend on it completely and it involves sacrifice with no conditions. Ultimately, it’s the kind of love throws ourselves out of the way and toward others (1 Corinthians 13:1ff).

This is a powerful thing. For what if the totality of Christians strove to love this way in every area of their lives? No doubt there would be a spiritual revolution at hand. But we can’t choose for other people, but what about us? We are called to love (1 Corinthians 16:4), so let us not get so caught up with ourselves and confuse ourselves on what the Bible truly says about love. Love God and love your neighbor. This is the Christian way.

In His service,

Pastor Chris