Love: The Greatest Commandment
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Love: the Greatest commandment
If someone asked you what is a Christian, or how does a christian act or live, what makes them different from a non-christian how would you answer them? Most would say we are God believers and we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. But is that how the God describes Christians. Jesus says the world will know that you are my disciples by your love one for another. It is our love that delineates us as his disciples, it is our love that shows the world God has changed us, it is our love that proves the spirit of God dwells within us. Jesus says this love is of supreme importance in fact in our text today Matthew 22:34-40 Jesus says it is the greatest commandment and upon these two command love God and love people hangs all the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he 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.”
What kind of Love
What kind of Love
Agape- unconditional love
describe God’s love for us
perfect love - a limitless love
selfless sacrificial love
selective love - choosing love - intellectual love - till death do us part
No man can love like this it is impossible yet its a command from God
How do we love God the way God wants to be loved?
By the empowerment of the Holy Spirit - The fruit of the Spirit is what? LOVE
With all your heart
With all your heart
We think of emotion but its more than just feelings
Bible describes the heart in the following ways
center of morality
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Center of faith
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
Will/desires
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
With all of your soul
With all of your soul
Literally your life
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
you do not have a soul you are a soul
it contains your personality your traits mannerisms its what makes you into you
Love God the way he made you to love him
we try to love God as others love him
Love God like billy graham or Chris Tomlin
God made you a unique soul and you should love him with all your soul
I can love god with my sarcasm
you aint nothing but a spring chicken story
Love God with all your mind
Love God with all your mind
intellect or rational thought processes
Many times I think people believe we must shut off our brains to worship and trust in God
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods,
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
God wants us to love him with all of our minds
to make a rational thought out decision to love him
Love others as yourself
Love others as yourself
Same agape love
It assumes you love yourself
Its not saying if you dont love yourself then you dont have to love others
It says love yourself and love others as you love yourself
pour yourself out to serve others
a living demonstration of God’s love to others
Its bonded to the idea of loving God they are inseparable
You cannot love God and hate people made in his image
you cannot love (AGAPE LOVE) people without the love of God in your life
if you love God you love people and if you love people you love God and the love of God is in you.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Do you love God, do you agape him with all your heart your will faith and moral character, with all your soul, with all that makes you you, Do you love God with all your mind your logical reasoning capabilities, and are you demonstrating the love of God to others in your life? If not Repent and ask God to forgive you and change your heart and fill you with his love that you may truly love him and love others. But maybe there is someone today who says I have never felt the love of God in my life but i would like to know more, or maybe your ready to ask God to come be the lord and Savior of your life. If thats you today all you need to do is admit that God is perfect and that you are a sinner who falls short of his perfection as we sing this song of invitation I encourage you to come up and I can talk and pray with you. Or you can pray right where your at and just tell me as you leave today that you accepted Christ so I can be praying for you and ill get you a bible if you don’t have one.