Have you ever wondered why Jesus said
that the most important commandment is
to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul & mind?
Did you even know that He did, indeed, say this?
Matthew records it this way,
“… You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind (intellect).
This is the great (most important, principal)
and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.
These two commandments sum up and upon them
depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
So it stands to reason that
if we are focused on loving God,
the rest will naturally fall into place.
God designed it so that by loving Him,
we fulfill the rest of the Law.
He didn't intend for us to strive.
Instead, He made it simple.
The writer of Romans 13 reminds us this way,
“Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor
[it never hurts anybody].
Therefore love meets all the requirements
and is the fulfilling of the Law.”
And 1 Corinthians 13 says,
“Love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.”
So it also stands to reason that
if we are busy judging others,
holding grudges,
behaving rudely toward others, etc.
then we are not focused on loving God,
but rather,
we are focused upon ourselves and what we think.
I wish that the words of Jesus
had sunk deeper into me
when my children were younger and
that I had never learned to be judgmental.
Now all I can do is pray that,
as young adults,
my children will learn
the Way of Love
sooner than I did;
especially as they endure
relationships with people which may prove
to be painful.
I pray that they realize
that even though sometimes it hurts,
the Way of Love truly is
the best Way.
