Love is the Imperative!

Sometimes we can realize that something is important, but we fail to do it. At other times, we do what is important, but we don't do it as well as we possibly can. These weaknesses effect our lives in many ways. This is especially true when it comes to what is important to God.

Jesus gave us a clear imperative. (Matthew 22:37-39) Jesus said that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. He declared this to be the first and greatest commandment. Then, He added a second commandment which was equally as important. We must love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We might know this, but are we doing it?

Love is a very powerful decision for us to make. It is not simply an emotion. It is a commitment to another person. We decide to put them first and to make their priorities our priorities. The imperative for us is to love the Lord completely, heart, soul, and mind. We are to seek to please Him in every way and do what He wants us to do. Are we cheerfully doing this out of true love?

Also, when we love God that way, we find out that He loves every human being on this earth this way. They are all our neighbors, and we are to love them well, even as we love ourselves. We love ourselves in that we don't want painful things to happen to us, and we do not want to lack anything we need. Therefore, we are commanded to love others in the same way. When we do these two things, we are doing what matters most to our Lord.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 23-25.