Love god love people
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 neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The entire duty of man can be summed up in 4 words: Love God Love People (Danny Gokey)
But what does that really mean?
Well, let's start by looking at the definition of love:
I think most of us can agree that "Love is patient, love is kind..." That's a good start.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE GOD?
We know from reading John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So we see that love is sacrificial. Sometimes it hurts to love. And why do we love in the first place? Because we want the best for someone other than ourselves.
We are to love God - with ALL our heart, ALL our mind, ALL our strength - wow, that's a lot of love. How do we show God that we love Him? We keep His commandments (John 14:15). Which commandments?
Jesus said, "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother"
These commandments deal with the most basic issues of life: marital commitment and morality, the sanctity of life, the right to personal property, the role of justice and truth in the legal system, the concept of honest trade and commerce, and the respect for authority and the family unit.
So, how do we stack up, as a nation and as an individual, in loving God with all our heart? Today, we see infidelity and perversion, abortion, violence, theft (personal and corporate), the misuse of the justice system for person gain, and a breakdown of the family. We're pretty much batting a thousand.
But, you may say, we aren't under the law anymore. I can do anything I please and God will be okay with that. That's not what Jesus said. He said,
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil". (Matthew 5:17) The only thing in the Bible that we see done away with by the coming of Christ are the sacrifices and ordinances (Colossians 2:14) The law of loving God and keeping His commandments was NEVER done away with.
In fact, Jesus added a second commandment, which was pretty much mind blowing to the people of his day: LOVE PEOPLE too.
SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE PEOPLE?
We have such a watered down concept of love these days. It's "I'm not going to do or say anything that might offend you because I love you". That's not loving others. That's loving yourself. You don't want to take a stand about anything because someone might not like it and they will make you feel uncomfortable. Do we allow children to play with matches or run in front of cars because they might be offended if you told them "NO"? Do we let someone get away with stealing because they will get offended if we try to bring them to justice?
The love of God for people should be our template for how we love people too. God is merciful, God is kind, God is patient. I am so glad He is. But God is also a God of justice, and God of truth, a God who tells His people "NO!". And He does that because He wants us to be healthy, happy, prosperous. He knows that if we follow His commands, these blessings will follow. If we fail to follow those commandments, we suffer from the breakdown of the very fabric of society. So why are we so afraid of saying, "NO! That's not true, that's not right, that's not the way to do things." We are afraid of other people's reactions.
When God made this world and all that is in it (including mankind!), He didn't say, "well, if it's a Wednesday and there's a full moon, I think I will just let the law of gravity cease to exist. And if someone doesn't like the cold in winter, let's just make it summer instead." God made a world of law and order, said some things are right and other things are wrong, gave us reality and laws of nature that cannot be broken (although they are trying to!). When we say that reality is only whatever you decide it is when you wake up in the morning, then you don't really love God and the order He created. When you advocate for and encourage people that hold these viewpoints and tell them there is nothing wrong in their viewpoint, then you don't really love them either. Just like giving matches to a child and telling them that they can play to their hearts content, and if they catch something on fire and end up being burned, well, we gave you the matches because we loved you and didn't want to offend you by telling you no.
We say, but God sent Jesus and now I am okay with God. But why did God send Jesus in the first place? He loved us. Okay. But why did He feel the need to show His love in this way? Because God is a holy God who cannot even LOOK on evil, it offends Him so much. We needed a Savior. We have offended a holy God, and God will not allow sin into His holy Heaven. Our sins separated us from a holy and righteous God. And God is the judge of the whole earth, and His judgements are true and just. We deserved death, we were doomed to an eternity without God. But God made a way. Jesus paid for our sins by dying in our place. That is the height of true love. Self-sacrifice, telling us that we are lost and warning us of our actions, but providing a solution and a way out.
And that is how we can love people too. We give them warning, and show them the way out of the burning building. We dare to say "NO!"
God, help me to love people that way too.