Law & Love

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.