Love God, Love People: Simple but Not Easy

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.” - Matthew 22:35-40

As a black and white thinker I have often read this passage and put 2 and 2 together and found they do, in fact equal 4.  If you love God and love people without ceasing, then you will fulfill God's law. It makes logical sense so that's where my analysis ended.   

However, first we must realize that we will never love God or people perfectly, so we will never fulfill the law of God in this way.  That's why we must have Jesus' redemptive work on the cross, he did this perfectly and took the penalty I deserve so I don’t have to. 

Jesus did this so that we might have eternal life with him and so that his Spirit might live through us to make a difference on this earth.  As we love God more deeply and truly love people more genuinely, God's Kingdom will come and His will will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  I believe that Jesus taught us to pray this so that we, the church, might be the answers to our prayers.

Recently I have been wrestling with these truths and my revelations aren't that surprising; Jesus actually meant what He said!  But this isn't about obedience in a legalistic sense as I first thought.  It's about the embodiment of the gospel in our daily lives.  2 Corinthians 5:14 says, "For the love of Christ controls us."  Christ's love for us so compels us to the degree that we are controlled by it.  We experience His love as the greatest thing in our lives, not to be outdone by our desire for power, control, or comfort. 

This great love for God is demonstrated through a life of love for others.  This is what James meant when he said that "faith apart from works is dead" (James 2:26).  We don't earn God's grace by our works; however, we prove that we love God and have been rescued by Him through our loving acts of kindness towards others. 

Can you truly love someone and watch them be abused without stepping in?  Imagine seeing a child you love, possibly your own, being physically assaulted.  You would intervene, right?  Of course, because you love the child.  

Along the same lines, can you care deeply for the well being of a friend who is addicted to drugs and not confront them?  Of course not. 

Now what about people we don't know?  Would you feel uncomfortable and look the other way when you pass a homeless beggar if you actually loved them?  If you really loved your neighbor, would you continue to smile and wave to them like you've done the past 3 years without ever having a real conversation with them?   Would your life to go unchanged with the knowledge that people live in slavery in your city if you really loved each an every one of them the way God does?  Would it be loving to never bring up your faith in a conversation with your friend just because you think it might be uncomfortable because they're not a Christian? 

When I say "you" in these questions, I mean "I/me."  The answer is humbling.  I don't love others the way they God does.  Why not?  The answer is simple: I don't love God the way I should.  For who He is and what He's done for me, He should be second to none but often He is second to my desire for control or comfort.  These same idols cause me not to love others well either.  It's difficult to step into the messiness of people's lives and to love them well.  It's not comfortable.  It's risky.  But God didn't say our lives would be comfortable, but He did tell us that if we lose our lives for His sake, we'll find true life and that life will be abundant.  I don’t know about you, but I'm tired of living a legalistic life, trying to manufacture a relationship with God by my actions.  I'm ready for the real life, a real relationship with God, risks and all, so that my life will truly be abundant. Join me.

Nov. Prayer Update: Setting Captives Free!

This month we'd like to share about a new ministry venture that we're working on in addition to our responsibilities with 100% Sent.  We're really excited about partnering with International Justice Mission to launch justice chapters on our campuses.  Learn more about what that looks like in our letter.  We also give a little adoption update as well.  Click here to check it out!  Thanks for your prayers!