The Great Commandment
Someone asked Jesus what the great commandment is. His response reveals that the whole commandments of God are summarised in love. No commandment is greater than loving God.
Matthew 22:35-38
"Then one of them which was a lawyer asked him a question, tempting him and saying, Master which is the great commandment in the law? 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."
Love for God is the great commandment. A perfect and wholehearted love for God is the first and great commandment, Jesus tells us. All other commandments hinge on it. Every other commandment is linked to our love for God. If we love God, we will live in His will.
To love God with all we are and all we have is God's command to man. He created us to love and worship Him. From our love for Him flows true worship. He who loves God worships Him sincerely. His love in us births true worship of Him.
Loving God is placing Him above everything and everyone. Nothing and no one should compete with God in our lives. He is first. Loving God is extolling Him for who He is and having reverence for Him as God. He is the only God that there is. There is none besides Him. Loving God is walking with Him and being in a relationship with Him. We cannot love Him from a far. In our fellowship with the Lord we know Him and love Him. Loving God is living in obedience to Him and to what He says. It is keeping His commandments. We keep His commandments because we love Him. Obedience is a proof of our love for God. In John 14:15 Jesus said if we love Him, we'll keep His commandments.
God requires and commands us to love Him, but He loved us first (1 John 4;19). He's our perfect example in love. He loved us when we didn't know Him. He loves us in our weaknesses. He loved us when we were lost in our sinful ways, disconnected from Him (Romans 5:8). His love for the world made Him give His only Son as a ransom for the redemption of man (John 3:16). If there's one thing you can always count on and lean on, it is the love of God.
1 John 4 verses 8 and 16 tells us that God is 'Love'. While we are at this side of eternity, we may not be able to fully grasp the meaning and depth of that statement. A song says God's love is so high you can't go over it, so wide you can't go around it, so deep you can't go beneath it. God's love can never be compared with any other. He loves unconditionally. He loves unreservedly. He loves in all circumstances. His love is everlasting. It is without measure. No one can love like God.
The first and great commandment is to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. Keep it. Love the Lord with all your heart and all of you. Remember He first loved you.
Posted: February 15, 2023 02:47 pm
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