Love God, Love People
Love God, Love People
This is it? Yes. This is the summary of the commandments and what God requires of us and requires of all people. I can love God, but I am not sure about loving people. I want to please God and obey his commandments, but can I really love God or people on my own? Let’s read what Jesus said to one smart lawyer who wanted to know the greatest commandment.
“34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[d] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[e] 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:34-40.
The context is the continued efforts of the Jewish authorities to trap Jesus and find a reason to kill him. The Sadducees have been silenced by Jesus and he had exposed the hypocrisy of their hearts. Now come the Pharisees doing the same thing. All humans are the same. We all have missed the mark or target of God and God calls it sin. We are made to glorify God; that is the target that we all missed. How dare us to pretend we can obey the commandments of God on our own efforts. The Old Testament is well documented to prove that we cannot obey and please God. We are no better than the people who have lived before us.
All people have the same problem of obeying and loving God their creator. Have you ever loved God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind? I have not, but I thank God the Father for giving me a pass by giving me His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus as the Son of God has loved God with all his heart, with all His soul and with all His mind. What a great relief!
Jesus, fully God and fully human, lived a perfect life and obeyed all of God’s commandments. While living as human as the
Son of God, He loved God the Father perfectly. And then Jesus also fulfilled the second commandment, He loved His “neighbors” and that is all people of the whole world. He loved us so much He died on the cross for the forgiveness of all human sins.
Now Jesus, goes further and says to us 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,[h] 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:43-48.
No way Jesus. How can I love my enemies? First, Jesus has demonstrated it on the cross. He loved the whole world and all of us were his enemies. For while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly and He said, Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing. That is all of us.
Second, Jesus has made loving our enemies possible. “ 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
I thank God that God the Holy Spirit has come and now lives in us and He is with us. (See Acts 2). We now have the power to live like Christ and be His witness and to love God, love our neighbor and love even our enemies. Do you have any other suggestion on how to live the Christian life? There is none except by the power of the Holy Spirit.Loving God and loving our neighbors means living out the nature of the God that lives in us. God is love the Bible declares. Christian living is impossible without the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit.
Apostle Paul said,"20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20.
Apostle Paul also said be filled (baptized, immersed, overtaken, endued, overshadowed) by the Holy Spirit then we can see the fruit of the Spirit lived through us (See Ephesians 5:18 and Galatians 5:22-23). Please don’t try living and loving without God the Holy Spirit. Jesus said He is our Helper and Comforter. Let’s get to know Him and live in the awareness of His presence in us. He will teach us all things and will always point us to Christ and our redemption on the cross.
Are you surrendered, yielded and filled with God the Holy Spirit? Do you have the Holy Spirit living in you? Have you asked for Him? Jesus would say, “13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:13.
Lord, I thank you for sending yourself in the person of the Holy Spirit who lives in me and is with me. Dear God the Holy Spirit, help me to live in the awareness of your presence, to hear your voice and obey your commands for the glory of Christ who died for me. Help us to love you God and love others. Holy Spirit, continue to reveal yourself to us. Amen.
How can we say we love God and not love people? The Holy Spirit answers us through Apostle John.
“20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can[a] he love God whom he has not seen?” 1 John 4:20.
LOVE GOD AND LOVE PEOPLE BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.
We are only empowered by the Holy Spirit when we step out in faith and obey His promptings that are consistent with the Bible. If we wait for feelings and what we can see, we will remain powerless and timid Christians. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is action. What will you act on today? Love is not a feeling. Take a love-action step forward in Jesus name. Share the Gospel with someone. That is love in action. Amen.
This is it? Yes. This is the summary of the commandments and what God requires of us and requires of all people. I can love God, but I am not sure about loving people. I want to please God and obey his commandments, but can I really love God or people on my own? Let’s read what Jesus said to one smart lawyer who wanted to know the greatest commandment.
“34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[d] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[e] 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:34-40.
The context is the continued efforts of the Jewish authorities to trap Jesus and find a reason to kill him. The Sadducees have been silenced by Jesus and he had exposed the hypocrisy of their hearts. Now come the Pharisees doing the same thing. All humans are the same. We all have missed the mark or target of God and God calls it sin. We are made to glorify God; that is the target that we all missed. How dare us to pretend we can obey the commandments of God on our own efforts. The Old Testament is well documented to prove that we cannot obey and please God. We are no better than the people who have lived before us.
All people have the same problem of obeying and loving God their creator. Have you ever loved God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind? I have not, but I thank God the Father for giving me a pass by giving me His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus as the Son of God has loved God with all his heart, with all His soul and with all His mind. What a great relief!
Jesus, fully God and fully human, lived a perfect life and obeyed all of God’s commandments. While living as human as the
Son of God, He loved God the Father perfectly. And then Jesus also fulfilled the second commandment, He loved His “neighbors” and that is all people of the whole world. He loved us so much He died on the cross for the forgiveness of all human sins.
Now Jesus, goes further and says to us 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,[h] 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:43-48.
No way Jesus. How can I love my enemies? First, Jesus has demonstrated it on the cross. He loved the whole world and all of us were his enemies. For while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly and He said, Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing. That is all of us.
Second, Jesus has made loving our enemies possible. “ 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
I thank God that God the Holy Spirit has come and now lives in us and He is with us. (See Acts 2). We now have the power to live like Christ and be His witness and to love God, love our neighbor and love even our enemies. Do you have any other suggestion on how to live the Christian life? There is none except by the power of the Holy Spirit.Loving God and loving our neighbors means living out the nature of the God that lives in us. God is love the Bible declares. Christian living is impossible without the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit.
Apostle Paul said,"20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20.
Apostle Paul also said be filled (baptized, immersed, overtaken, endued, overshadowed) by the Holy Spirit then we can see the fruit of the Spirit lived through us (See Ephesians 5:18 and Galatians 5:22-23). Please don’t try living and loving without God the Holy Spirit. Jesus said He is our Helper and Comforter. Let’s get to know Him and live in the awareness of His presence in us. He will teach us all things and will always point us to Christ and our redemption on the cross.
Are you surrendered, yielded and filled with God the Holy Spirit? Do you have the Holy Spirit living in you? Have you asked for Him? Jesus would say, “13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:13.
Lord, I thank you for sending yourself in the person of the Holy Spirit who lives in me and is with me. Dear God the Holy Spirit, help me to live in the awareness of your presence, to hear your voice and obey your commands for the glory of Christ who died for me. Help us to love you God and love others. Holy Spirit, continue to reveal yourself to us. Amen.
How can we say we love God and not love people? The Holy Spirit answers us through Apostle John.
“20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can[a] he love God whom he has not seen?” 1 John 4:20.
LOVE GOD AND LOVE PEOPLE BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.
We are only empowered by the Holy Spirit when we step out in faith and obey His promptings that are consistent with the Bible. If we wait for feelings and what we can see, we will remain powerless and timid Christians. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is action. What will you act on today? Love is not a feeling. Take a love-action step forward in Jesus name. Share the Gospel with someone. That is love in action. Amen.
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