The Great Commandment
So I was awake at about 5:00 this morning unable to go back to sleep and I so I cracked up the ole' good book and started reading and I felt like there was a new truth revealed to me. Never know when it is going to happen do we? At any rate I thought I would share.
Matthew 22:34-40 (King James Version)
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 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. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Here we have the Pharisees, yet again, trying to discredit Christ and trap him in some form or fashion. They asked him “Which is the great commandment in the law? That is to say, what is the greatest commandment, the most important in the law.
Jesus says: 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.
BUT then he goes onto say: And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Initially it appears he is saying the “first” great law is to love the Lord thy God and then the second most important is to love thy neighbor as thyself...but is this REALLY what Jesus is saying? Sure he says the most important law is to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul and mind...but then he says the second law is LIKE UNTO IT! How can that be?
If you were to ask me “What is the greatest pizza restaurant in the world?” And I say Pizza Hut is the greatest but the second greatest is Domino's and its like the first! But how? How can the second greatest be like the first greatest? That doesn't make sense! They both can't be the greatest! The same goes with the commandment, they both can't be the great commandment, the most important above all.
Or can they? As a matter of fact, they can!
Ask yourself, do you know anyone who loves the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy mind? Is there a single person in the world that does? If they do I have not met them. But does God love us with everything he is? Most certainly.
I would be a liar if I claimed to love the Lord with ALL my heart, soul, and mind...but I am working on it always. I wish I did but I know I don't and you know what? I don't a single person who truly does either. One day we will but we as carnal beings do not and as far as I know can not love God with EVERYTHING that I am at all times. Why? Because we are sinful in nature.
Next, do you love your neighbor as thyself? Do you REALLY LOVE your neighbor? I don't mean your family or friends but just the people around you...Do you truly love them even half as much as you do yourself? I know that I personally do care to a certain extent but I would not say I love my neighbor even a fraction as much as I love my mother, father or brother. I care if something bad happens to someone and I will certainly step up to protect someone if they are under attack or in danger but I can't honestly say that I love them as much as I love myself. I don't make a habit of judging or condemning those who disagree with my views because I know that one day they will see the truth. I simply don't have enough love inside of me to care about my neighbor as I do myself or my family and friends. To be honest I don't know a single Christian who does and most are quick to condemn many to hell for not believing what they do and they claim to do so out of love...even though the Bible says there is no fear in love. These people do not love God with everything that they are! They think they do but they are lying to themselves!
A lot of people have this idea that loving God is something you do by obeying all the things he tells us and it is true that obeying him is something we should do and you should obey his word which is to love your enemies and do good unto others but not many TRULY do. What if it is when God is truly in you, you WILL love others as much as you love yourself. It is a hard pill to swallow for many because most people don't care about loving their neighbor and they certainly don't want to base whether or not they truly love God on loving others because if we did hold people accountable by that definition then it would most definitely prove that they DON'T truly love God! At least not with all their heart, soul and mind...perhaps in some part but not totally. Why? Because they don't love their neighbor! Most people don't give a flip about just the random people in our lives unless some catastrophe happens right in front of eyes and then by conscience we act in order to help in many cases but other than most don't care.
So what is Jesus really saying here? Loving thy neighbor as thyself is the SAME as loving the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind! Is Jesus really saying this?? That these are the SAME THING? We have been taught that loving God is this personal relationship with Jesus and obeying what the Bible says. Yes, believing that Christ is your Lord and savior is the way to be saved but according to these verses loving God with everything that you are IS loving your neighbor...who would accept such a thing? Most Christians won't. Why? Because they want it to be all about themselves! It isn't about EVERYONE its about THEM! It isn't about the WHOLE of humanity its about just them and no one else! Thats the mindset that the Christian world has and they put up a display of caring for others when they really don't. They say they love others but they don't! They judge and condemn and persecute and hate all those who don't believe in Jesus...or more specifically what they believe.
John 15:12-17
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.
If you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself you ARE loving God with everything you are...but once again, how many people do you know that truly fit this description? I don't know any but I believe one day we will and until then strive for this. God himself is IN US and if we love one another even half as much as he loves us we will be showing a bit better the great commandment of love unto him. So am I admitting that I don't love God totally? You better believe it. I'm not proud of that but I admit it and Lord willing I will begin to show greater love to my neighbor.
Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.
Love one another as you do yourself and you WILL be loving God with all that you are....
God Bless
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