“And he [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” (Matthew 22:37–40, ESV)
Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind is a basic belief of the godly mentioned in the New and Old Testaments. Even the first commandment lists this as a prime directive when it states, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.”” (Exodus 20:1–3). God is to be the center of your worship, the focus of your devotion, the one to whom you make ultimate promises, and the Creator to whom you pray. Loving God completely, more than anything else in life, is key to living faithfully. That is why Jesus begins this scripture by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and ALL your soul and ALL your mind…” (Matthew 22:37).
If you love God, one other thing is required of the you. You must love your neighbor as well as yourself. Jesus also mentions this in today’s scripture from Matthew 22. Love of God along with a love of neighbor and self explains “All the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). Some people find it easy to love God, but hard to love those around them. Others find it easy to love others but live with self-hatred. The scriptures equate a love of God with a love neighbor and a love of yourself. Just like a tripod needs three legs to stand, you need to love God, neighbor, and self (all three) for you to stand faithful.
If you read through the New Testament carefully, you will see that commands to love one’s neighbor and to love one’s self occur often. Galatians 5:14 says, “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Romans 13:8 adds: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Loving your neighbor as yourself stems from the Mosaic law and is found in Leviticus 19:18. Still, this very command is mentioned more than a dozen times in the New Testament. It is another basic belief for those who want to follow Jesus.
Taken altogether, the scriptures are replete with commands to love. Over and over, it is emphasized that you must love God. You must love your neighbor. You must love yourself. You should love with all your heart, soul, and mind. This AGAPE love should be central to your faith. However, despite love being both a command from God and a necessary part of faith found throughout the Bible, many people today lack love. Oh, they might think they show love, but it is not God’s idea of love. It is not AGAPE love. It is not selfless love. True to form, many people today have a selfish, ungodly form of love that defines them.
I attended a worship service a dozen years ago. During the service, the pastor repeatedly spoke about the love God. He also spoke eloquently about forgiveness and grace. Then came his sermon. During that sermon, he castigated Roman Catholics, calling them cultists. He lumped together all Catholics as sinful and their worship as worthless. I found it very offensive that while speaking of love, the pastor had no love for the millions of Roman Catholics who endeavor to worship God in Christ. He saw them as sinners only, and devoid of any true love of God. He spoke of them as if they were beyond any hope of redemption.
Every person is capable of false love, where their love is based on something other than the love of God. While shopping together, one woman turned to the other and said, “Look at that woman with the blue hair! I don’t know how she can look at herself in the mirror and see herself as pretty.” The other woman responded, “Ugly as sin!” YET! I bet if you asked these ladies if they were loving, they would respond that they are very loving people. But is this AGAPE, godly love? Hardly.
Billy Graham wrote about AGAPE, godly love in this way…
“Do you have this kind of love—a love that puts others ahead of yourself? Without Jesus Christ in your heart, without the Holy Spirit in your life, you can’t produce this love. This is the kind of love Jesus had for us, when He willingly left the glory of Heaven and went to the cross for our salvation.
Only God can give us a selfless love for others, as the Holy Spirit changes us from within. This is one reason we must receive Christ, for apart from His Spirit we can never be freed from the chains of selfishness, jealousy, and indifference. Will others see Christ’s love in your life today?” (p. 133, Hope for Each Day).
In the news today, I noticed so much hate. Love was absent from the discussion. One politician expressed that she hated another politician; not just the other’s views but hated the person. In an article about sports, a commentator riled up the crowd by saying his dislike of the other team was at a “nuclear level”. Um, what? Is that a new level of hate?
Long-term hatred and the absence of love is often seen between warring groups. Shiites kill Sunnis in Iraq. Pakistan and India constantly war on their border. Israel and Hamas have been battling for decades. China’s ruling elite spend billions to cause animosity and revolution in other countries. A Russian commented that the deaths of every Ukrainian in the war is not only justified but preferable. Where is the love?
Agape, godly love is missing all over the world. Where it is absent, people suffer and die. And yet, the world keeps promoting other forms of love and hate. The world refuses to submit to God’s AGAPE love. The world refuses to accept Jesus’ words from Matthew 22:37-40.
Will you obey Jesus’ commands in light of today’s scripture? Will you dedicate yourself to the AGAPE love of God, neighbor, and self? Our world is desperate for AGAPE love yet shuns it. Your dedication to AGAPE love makes all the difference in the world… and to God in Christ!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Let my love for You, blessed God, shine through my actions. May AGAPE love infuse everything I do.
As I think of the past week, I wonder how many of those people I saw could use more holy kinds of love. I wonder who I will meet this week who is desperate for AGAPE love. To be honest, Lord, have I been a truly loving person? Do others see Your love working in me?
Lately, I have observed those who need Your love. I pray for them also today. As I name them, I ask that You surround them with the ability to see and appreciate and accept Your AGAPE kind of love.
In the name of Jesus, thank You for loving me, Heavenly Father! Amen.
If you love God, one other thing is required of the you. You must love your neighbor as well as yourself. Jesus also mentions this in today’s scripture from Matthew 22. Love of God along with a love of neighbor and self explains “All the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). Some people find it easy to love God, but hard to love those around them. Others find it easy to love others but live with self-hatred. The scriptures equate a love of God with a love neighbor and a love of yourself. Just like a tripod needs three legs to stand, you need to love God, neighbor, and self (all three) for you to stand faithful.
If you read through the New Testament carefully, you will see that commands to love one’s neighbor and to love one’s self occur often. Galatians 5:14 says, “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Romans 13:8 adds: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Loving your neighbor as yourself stems from the Mosaic law and is found in Leviticus 19:18. Still, this very command is mentioned more than a dozen times in the New Testament. It is another basic belief for those who want to follow Jesus.
Taken altogether, the scriptures are replete with commands to love. Over and over, it is emphasized that you must love God. You must love your neighbor. You must love yourself. You should love with all your heart, soul, and mind. This AGAPE love should be central to your faith. However, despite love being both a command from God and a necessary part of faith found throughout the Bible, many people today lack love. Oh, they might think they show love, but it is not God’s idea of love. It is not AGAPE love. It is not selfless love. True to form, many people today have a selfish, ungodly form of love that defines them.
I attended a worship service a dozen years ago. During the service, the pastor repeatedly spoke about the love God. He also spoke eloquently about forgiveness and grace. Then came his sermon. During that sermon, he castigated Roman Catholics, calling them cultists. He lumped together all Catholics as sinful and their worship as worthless. I found it very offensive that while speaking of love, the pastor had no love for the millions of Roman Catholics who endeavor to worship God in Christ. He saw them as sinners only, and devoid of any true love of God. He spoke of them as if they were beyond any hope of redemption.
Every person is capable of false love, where their love is based on something other than the love of God. While shopping together, one woman turned to the other and said, “Look at that woman with the blue hair! I don’t know how she can look at herself in the mirror and see herself as pretty.” The other woman responded, “Ugly as sin!” YET! I bet if you asked these ladies if they were loving, they would respond that they are very loving people. But is this AGAPE, godly love? Hardly.
Billy Graham wrote about AGAPE, godly love in this way…
“Do you have this kind of love—a love that puts others ahead of yourself? Without Jesus Christ in your heart, without the Holy Spirit in your life, you can’t produce this love. This is the kind of love Jesus had for us, when He willingly left the glory of Heaven and went to the cross for our salvation.
Only God can give us a selfless love for others, as the Holy Spirit changes us from within. This is one reason we must receive Christ, for apart from His Spirit we can never be freed from the chains of selfishness, jealousy, and indifference. Will others see Christ’s love in your life today?” (p. 133, Hope for Each Day).
In the news today, I noticed so much hate. Love was absent from the discussion. One politician expressed that she hated another politician; not just the other’s views but hated the person. In an article about sports, a commentator riled up the crowd by saying his dislike of the other team was at a “nuclear level”. Um, what? Is that a new level of hate?
Long-term hatred and the absence of love is often seen between warring groups. Shiites kill Sunnis in Iraq. Pakistan and India constantly war on their border. Israel and Hamas have been battling for decades. China’s ruling elite spend billions to cause animosity and revolution in other countries. A Russian commented that the deaths of every Ukrainian in the war is not only justified but preferable. Where is the love?
Agape, godly love is missing all over the world. Where it is absent, people suffer and die. And yet, the world keeps promoting other forms of love and hate. The world refuses to submit to God’s AGAPE love. The world refuses to accept Jesus’ words from Matthew 22:37-40.
Will you obey Jesus’ commands in light of today’s scripture? Will you dedicate yourself to the AGAPE love of God, neighbor, and self? Our world is desperate for AGAPE love yet shuns it. Your dedication to AGAPE love makes all the difference in the world… and to God in Christ!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Let my love for You, blessed God, shine through my actions. May AGAPE love infuse everything I do.
As I think of the past week, I wonder how many of those people I saw could use more holy kinds of love. I wonder who I will meet this week who is desperate for AGAPE love. To be honest, Lord, have I been a truly loving person? Do others see Your love working in me?
Lately, I have observed those who need Your love. I pray for them also today. As I name them, I ask that You surround them with the ability to see and appreciate and accept Your AGAPE kind of love.
In the name of Jesus, thank You for loving me, Heavenly Father! Amen.
The uplifting video today is about how to cultivate unconditional, godly love!