There are a lot of things that are important to us as individuals. Yet, there are also things that are important to God. The things that are important to Him are the things that truly matter. However, there are things that are more important to God than others.
There was a lawyer that was seeking after that very thing. He came to Jesus and he asked Him this question: “what commandment is the greatest in the law?
This lawyer was trying to test Jesus. He was trying to trip Jesus up because he truly believed that Jesus was blasphemist. On the other hand, Jesus identifies that he was not far from the kingdom of God. So what was Jesus’ response?
Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus told the lawyer that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart, should, and mind. Jesus went on to say that the second greatest commandment is just like it (similar), to love your neighbor as yourself. He then said that all of the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. In other words, the entire Bible is essentially summed up on these two commandments. That is fascinating! What this tells me is that at the end of the day, this is all that God truly cares about.
As believers, we are called to love God and to love people. That is what God truly cares about. So today, I want to take a look at that some more. What does it mean to truly love God and to love people? In order to answer that question, we have to look deeper into the meaning of love.
Google describes love as “an intense feeling or deep affection” or a “a great interest and pleasure in something.” That is not a bad description, But I would say that it falls short of the kind of love we are talking about. I am convinced that in order for us to the true meaning of love that Jesus referred to, we first have to love look at God’s love for us. For the sake of time, we are going to analyze one scripture.
God’s Love for Us
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
There are a few things that we
learn about love from this scripture.
1.
Love
is Shown - “so loved the world that…”
- God so loved us that He chose. He made a decision. His
love was seen.
- Love is seen because love is an action. God’s love was
shown to us.
- Love is a choice. It is an action item.
- Love moves us to action
2.
Love
is Sacrificial - “He gave His only
Son…”
- God gave because love is selfless.
- Love does not focus on self but on the person at hand.
- Jesus laid down His life for us because He loved us
and wanted the best for us.
3.
Love
is Steadfast - “will not perish but
have everlasting life…”
- God is eternally committed to His love for us
- Love is committed
- Love is faithful
- Love never gives up
1 John 4:19 - “We love Him because He first loved us.”
Because God loves us, we are called to love Him back. So how do we do that?
By keeping His commandments.
John 14:21 - “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.”
Our Love for God
To love God with all of our heart, soul and mind is to obey His Word; by treasuring His Word and hiding it in our heart so that we can do what pleases Him. Doing this shows that we truly love God.
To grow in God’s love we can:
A.
Choose
God’s Word
(a) Choose to read the Word
(b) Digest the Word
(c) Meditate on it
(d) Act on it [obey]
B.
Changed
by His Word
(a) We choose whether we will change or not
(b) In order to be changed we have to yield ourselves
(c) It requires sacrifice of our ego and pride
(d) When we lay ourselves down, we allow the Holy Spirit
to work in our heart
C.
Committed
to His Word
(a) Ultimately, we must choose to trust God’s Word
(b) Choose to be faithful to God and His Word
(c) His promises are yes and amen- He is faithful to us
(d) Let us not give up on God’s Word
According to Jesus, when you
choose to obey God, you show that you truly love Him.
With that said, there is one command that Jesus with us…
John 15:12 - “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Our Love for Others
Jesus said that we love God when we keep His commandments. The one commandment that He leaves with us above everything else is to love others. Therefore, we show our love for God when we choose to love others. God’s love causes us to want to love Him back. When's God's love matures in us, we love others.
God cares about how we treat others and how we treat one another. We are all created in the image of God. When we devalue one person, we devalue the image of God on the inside of them. God deeply cares about them as much as He deeply cares about us. I believe that when we hurt, God hurts for us. But when we hurt others, God hurts for them and we make Him sad. If we love God then we should value the image of God on the inside of others.
V39 - “Love your neighbor as yourself…”
Matthew 7:12 - “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them…”
You want people to be…
•
Patient
•
Kind
•
Happy
•
Humble
•
Honor
•
Helpful
•
Slow to anger
•
Forgiving
•
Rejoice
•
Truthful
•
Protect
•
Trust
•
Hope
• Faithful
If this is how we want to be treated, then we have to treat other people the same way. THIS is how we love other people. The measure of our love for God is shown in how we treat other people. That is family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, enemies, etc.)
Question: How much do you love God?
The answer is seen in how you treat others with your words, thoughts, actions, and your attitude.
Let us love God by loving people.
I.
Grow
in your love for God
•
Fill yourself
with the love of God
•
Those who follow
His commands are the ones that love God
(a) Choose God’s Word
(b) Be changed by His Word
(c) Be committed to His Word
(d) Commune with the Lord
II.
Grow
in your love for people
III. Remember that your love for God is reflected in how you treat other people
Let us prioritize our relationship
with God by choosing to love Him in how we treat other people.
