Love like who?
Devotions this week based on Sunday’s Message: The Source of Love! (LISTEN HERE)
“Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
As.
This little word in the English language sets up a close connection between two clauses in a sentence. It is a word that indicates a point of comparison between the first clause and the second clause, and usually that point of comparison is pretty close. The comparison is often very helpful because it puts a more concrete component next to an element that might be more abstract.
Ok, enough of the English lesson.
If Jesus would have said simply, “Love each other,” that would have been fine. However, the point of interpretation would be left up to the reader to determine what that looked like. If left up to the Apostle Peter, he might have understood love as “up to seven times” and then he was done loving. If left up to some of the religious thought of the day, you can love people who love you back, but not those that don’t love you. Perhaps if left up to Judas, love would only happen if someone paid monetarily in return.
We can skew our expression of love to match and justify how WE want to love or how WE think we should love.
As.
This connector is so important and powerful in Jesus statement.
“…AS I have loved you.”
Now the nebulous interpretations and expressions of love are thrown out and the first clause, “Love each other” is defined by “as I have loved you.” The only way to love each other is to model the love that Jesus has shown to us.
So we must ask, “How has Jesus loved you?”
This is very personal, but there are aspects that are universal. Take time this week to consider personally how you have received and experienced the love of Jesus.
Jesus’ love is sacrificial. He gave up all to come to this world to live. He gave up his life to die on the cross. He gave up his agenda to follow his Father’s will. He gave up his time to train disciples. He gave up his reputation to confront the Pharisees and the list goes on.
Jesus’ love is inconvenient. Perhaps this is more from our perspective, but it is not always convenient to show love. After a long day, he fed 5000. When it was culturally unacceptable, he sat down and brought hope to a Samaritan woman. When his enemies stood against him, he healed the servant’s ear. When disease was a risk he healed 10 lepers. When mom’s brought their children to him, he blessed them. And the list goes on.
Jesus’ love is impactful. Jesus’ expressions of love changed people’s lives. He called fishermen to be the core group to spreading the love of Jesus. He washed those 12 feet to set an example of servant love and service. He raised the dead. He brought salvation to the taxcollector and forgiveness to the adulterer. His love changed lives…including mine and yours.
The list can go on and I invite you to continue the list. How has Jesus’ loved you?
Because “AS” Jesus has loved you will guide how you love others!
Apply: As has been suggested make a list of all the ways Jesus has loved you. How does that begin to guide your thoughts on how you are to love others.
Prayer: Lord, help me to love AS you have loved me. AMEN.
This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Love God Love People (LISTEN HERE)
Matthew 22:35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The question was, “Which was the greatest commandment in the Law?”
To be the greatest, there has to be nothing above it. I would venture to propose that not only is it the greatest today, but will remain the greatest. To be the greatest, there must be no “asterisks” next to the claim. It can’t be the greatest with qualifications. It must stand on its own and by itself as the greatest.
To ensure that Jesus had “nailed” the answer, he ended his statement with, “All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
ALL the Law. ALL the prophets.
This means that if we read through the pages of Scripture we cannot or will not find any greater command than Jesus just iterated. We will find no exceptions, but rather complete congruency with the statement Jesus makes.
In a brief devotion, we don’t have the time to peruse all of the pages of the “Law and Prophets,” but permit just a few examples from each to give credibility to Jesus’ claim.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Malachi 3:6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
Micah 6:7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
When one considers all the Old Testament (and New for that matter), it might seem overwhelming first to KNOW what all is in there and then to KEEP what all is in there. By giving us the greatest and second greatest commands to “Love God and Love people” Jesus not only makes it easy to understand, but gives us simple guidance of what it looks like to live as a loved, forgiven child of God.
We don’t have a list of over 600. We don’t even have a list of 10. We have a list of two: Love God and Love people.
And these two are what give life great joy and blessing!
1 John 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Apply: How does your day change and move closer to the Lord by asking as you interact, “Does this show love for God or love for people? If so I will do it…if not, I won’t.”
Prayer: Lord, thank you for simplifying your commands into two. I know I will need your ever present forgiveness because I will struggle to keep these two. I also thank you for simplifying the guidance to enjoy the blessings that come when one, by your Spirit’s help, loves you and loves others. AMEN.
Love people like you love yourself!
This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Love God Love People (LISTEN HERE)
“The second is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39)
With love of God fixed in the “greatest” position, Jesus shares the close second greatest command. Love your neighbor.
In other teachings of Jesus, he clearly shares that neighbor is anybody, including those in need and those that even are our enemies. The standard? “…as you love yourself.”
Jesus is implying that we know how to love ourselves. (Not minimizing emotional challenges that lead a person to hate their life and themselves. This needs professional help.)
So what does it mean to love ourselves? We want what’s best for us. We want to be treated with respect. We don’t want to be hurt by someone else. We want healthy committed relationships. We don’t want people taking what belongs to us. We want a strong reputation. We don’t want people conniving to take from us.
We love ourselves too much to want this, let alone allow this to happen.
So in essence Jesus is telling us, “If you know how to love yourself, apply the same to your interactions with others.”
In Matthew 7:12, Jesus teaches, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
The fact that both Matthew 22 and Matthew 7 “sum up the Law and the Prophets,” indicate that Jesus is using two phrases to encourage the same result: Love people.
The great thing about the Word of God, is we can look at other portions of Scripture to help make sure our human hearts are guided by the Word of God.
In Exodus 20, the Lord gives written commands to Moses. These 10 Commandments help understand what it means to Love God (1-3) and Love People (4-10).
Here they are:
If you want to be honored and respected, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)
If you want to not be physically hurt, “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)
If you want commitment in relationships, “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)
If you want your possessions safe, “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
If you want your reputation strong, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)
If you don’t want others conniving to get what is yours, ““You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17)
Every one of these commands the Lord gives teach us how to love our neighbor by simply putting into words how we ourselves would want to be treated.
Is it challenging to love our neighbor? Yes, because we often want to love ourselves but not our neighbor.
How do we face the challenge?
Remember that loving our neighbor is first and foremost an expression of our love for God. Secondly, how we love our neighbor is also an expression of how much we love ourselves.
Great love for God leads to great love for people.
Great love of self (in a healthy way) leads to great love for people.
Apply: Reflect: Is there an aspect to loving people that challenges you? What changes when you ask the question, “How would I like to be loved in this same situation?”
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for when I often fail to love the people around me. Take me back to your love to empower me to love people. Help me to love them even more than I love myself. AMEN.
Love God’s Story!
This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Love God Love People (LISTEN HERE)
Stories disappear.
We have a member who is a veteran of World War II and was involved in the invasion of Normandy. He has stories to tell. He has shared moments, but I’d love to know the rest of his story. He comments about writing a book or recording his memories, but so far that hasn’t happened.
Do you have people in your life that you would just love to listen to their story? The interest increases when we love and care about the person.
The reality is, people have stories to tell, but their stories, if not recorded, disappear when their life ends.
The amazing thing about the Lord is that he has recorded his story so that we could connect with it…years after the actual events. The record is not just for human interest, but it is a message that transforms our lives and gives us the way to heaven.
But sometimes, this story doesn’t seem all that interesting. The reels on Instagram, or the videos on YouTube capture our interest more than the stories of Scripture. Sometimes pursuing our own story and writing our own legacy gets in the way of time with time in God’s Word.
Remember this:
Isaiah 40:7-8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
One of the ways we express our love for God is to pause our story writing to listen to his story and allow his story to impact our story.
The LORD set up a rhythm for his people to allow six days to spend writing their story, but to set aside the last day of the week as the time to spend listening to and reflecting on God’s story. God wanted his people to regularly connect with his love in his story to allow his love to permeate their story.
Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Love for God means setting aside regular time to spend time with the Word of the Lord. In reflecting on the third commandment, Martin Luther wrote:
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
When Jesus gave the greatest command to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, what better way to know what that looks like than to have the Word of God fill our hearts, guide our thoughts, comfort our soul and direct our actions?
There is no better way to love God than love spending time with him and his story, his Word!
Apply: How can you set aside regular time to let God’s story fill and guid your story?
Prayer: Lord, let your word be a lamp to my feet and a guide to my path. AMEN.
Do your words love God?
This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Love God Love People (LISTEN HERE)
James 3:9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Who doesn’t like singing your favorite hymn with a church full of worshippers or singing at the top of your lungs your favorite contemporary Christian song? Music moves the soul and encourages the heart. Your day could be crummy and an encouraging song comes on the radio. You could have had a difficult week, but the songs on Sunday morning lifted your soul. Praising the Lord we love to do.
Cursing?
Of course not…right?
How could our same mouth that is used to praise God could also be used to curse human beings. Hmmm…I don’t know…perhaps as you are driving in the car singing along with the Christian radio station a car cuts you off and you throw up your hand and say, “What the f…!
Oh how I hate to admit that out of the same mouth can come words that express love for the Lord and express a lack of love for the Lord.
We have been struggling with this since the first fall into sin. When Eve was introduced to Adam…praises! “This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”
When God confronted Adam about eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, “It’s the woman YOU made.” (God, it’s YOUR fault.)
How quickly our love for God changes when our heart shifts from being driven by the Spirit of God to being driven by the sinful flesh.
James points out how weird it is that the same mouth would produce praises and curses. A spring can’t produce both fresh and salt water. A tree can’t bear olives and figs. But yet the mouth can produce praises and curses.
Loving God is difficult because when we use our mouth to berate someone else, use God’s name in vain, or call down curses on someone, we are either directly expressing a lack of love toward God or indirectly by not loving what he created.
Both are wrong.
For both we need forgiveness.
Our ability to love God with our words is the work of a loving God to purify our words. The Lord’s call to Isaiah the prophet is a great example (Isaiah 6:5-9):
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
The Lord purifies our lips so that once again we can speak and sing his praise and be a voice for his love and grace.
Love God with all your words!
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.
Apply: What temptations come to use your voice to curse God? Ask the Lord for his forgiveness and purifying work to put praise back on your lips!
Prayer: Lord, take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee! AMEN