Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
God is LOVE, so it is not surprising Jesus teaches about LOVE a lot...It is not surprising that the Bible is about LOVE and because of Him we should love God and neighbor...And we know that Jesus fulfills Scripture...So when He was ask about the Two Greatest Commandments His answer is not surprising: “‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’...This is the first and greatest commandment...And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’...All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”...
Love s the Foundation of Christianity...Christianity without a deep passion for God is incomplete...Love for God and others should be the primary motivator for our actions and beliefs...Love is the soil for our Spiritual Growth...Just as a plant needs fertile soil to flourish, our spiritual lives need the LOVE of God to produce the fruits of the Spirit...When our hearts are rooted in God's LOVE, we naturally exhibit qualities like joy, peace, patience, goodness, and kindness...Love is our Ultimate Goal...Followers of Jesus know we are not to focusing solely on external actions or spiritual gifts without a deep-rooted love for God...True devotion to God must spring from a heart filled with love...Love is the Gift of Jesus...We can see that God's LOVE is a gift given to us in Christ...It is not something we can earn or achieve on our own...With Jesus teachings and then Him highlighting the importance of love in the Two Greatest Commandments we can see they are the cornerstone of the Christian faith...Love is not merely an emotion but a transformative force that shapes our lives and our relationship with God...
J.D. Greear is a Pastor, author, and an apologist....He says these things about love, the LOVE of Jesus and how LOVE embodies His Father: “A Christianity that does not have as its primary focus the deepening of passions for God is a false Christianity, no matter how zealously it seeks conversions or how forcefully it advocates righteous behavior.”...“The goal of the gospel is to produce a type of people consumed with passion for God and love for others.”...“His LOVE is the soil in which all the fruits of the Spirit grow...When our roots abide there, then joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control grow naturally in our hearts.”...“Without love even the most radical devotion to God is of no value to Him...Let me make sure that sinks in… You can gain all the spiritual gifts in the world...You can take the most radical steps of obedience...You can share every meal with the homeless in your city...You can memorize the book of Leviticus...You can pray each morning for four hours like Martin Luther...But if what you do does not flow out of a heart of love - a heart that does those things because it genuinely desires to do them - it is ultimately worthless to God.”...“Thus, if you are not where you should be spiritually, the answer is not simply to get busier for Jesus...It is not just to get more radical in your devotion to God...It’s not only to seek greater spiritual gifts or even to learn more about the Bible...It is to make your home in God’s LOVE given to you as a gift in Christ.”...
As St. Paul teaches us about the three greatest virtues in life of faith, hope and love...But the greatest of these is love...