Love God. Love Others.
Should. Should not.
Do this. Do that.
Acceptable. Unacceptable.
Right. Wrong.
This way. No, that way.
Sit. Stand.
Desiring to practice my faith like a child, focusing on direct truths and not the preferences of man which only muddy the waters. Wanting to not second guess my actions, beliefs, and words. Listening to too many voices of so called experts. Realizing that collectively we have complicated our faith, I seek to find the bottom line - how should I follow? I believe Scripture clearly states:
We are separated from God because of our sin and holiness and sin cannot co-exist (Romans 3:23)
Jesus died as payment for sins - all sins for all people (Romans 6:23, Acts 15:8-11)
We must choose to believe this truth, desire to be right before God, and admit and repent for our sins. (Revelation 3:20, Psalm 32:5, 1 John 1:9, Mark 11:25)
We are forgiven, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and called children of God and co-heirs with Christ. (Ephesians 1:13-14, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Romans 8:17, Galatians 4:7, John 1:12)
We must choose every day to reflect upon our words, actions, and thoughts and if sin exists, repent and make every effort to fight against that sin.
We are not perfect people. We are not worthy. Yet God provided a way for us to be in relationship with Him through Jesus.
We are not perfect people. We are not worthy. Yet God, who is worthy, placed His Spirit within us and we become a dwelling place with the ever present, all powerful, kind Holy Spirit.
There are many clear rules, laws, and moral regulations present in the Bible for believers. Searching for meaning and understanding, I began to realize that by following two basic commands, I may just cover many of those rules, laws and moral regulations.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we read about the Pharisees approaching Jesus, wanting to test him by asking what biblical law was the greatest. In many ways, this question of greatest has been debated within church walls and among believers by the unspoken (and let’s be honest sometimes spoken) list of acceptable behaviors, actions, and words. When we place certain sins above others by our words of judgment and actions of exclusion, we are determining what we believe to be the greatest laws/commands. It has been happening within the Church and in the hearts of believers for centuries. It has happened within my own heart for decades. Just because it has always been does not mean it should continue.
Jesus replied to the Pharisees -
“Love the Lord your God with all our heart, with your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
Clinging to Jesus’ response, I have begun to pare down the list of rules, commands, laws, acceptable church behaviors, religious practices and the systematic prejudices and try to keep the greatest command front in center.
Love God. Love Others.
I will not do this perfectly because - well, I am not perfect. I carry life experiences that taint my views and thoughts. I tend towards being judgmental in my search for justice and simply the desire of my heart to be right. But I will wake up tomorrow and strive to live these two commandments in their purest form.
If I miss the mark on days (which is inevitable), I believe that I can stand before God and know that the intent of my heart was to love God and love others. Now when I read Scripture, the number of times the authors speak of love in regards to God and others is prevalent. The words jump off the page as though they were printed in 3D. Glaringly obvious and shouting to my stubborn heart and mind - LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS!
Challenging myself every day. Reminding myself of my Savior’s words. Striving to climb out of the muck of preferences and breaking loose of the bonds of religious laws and practices, I choose to love God and to love others. It starts with me. I am confident I am not alone in the dissatisfaction of the status quo - are you ready to choose, above all else, the greatest command(s)?
May we love God and love others.
I created a 5 day devotional to help us think through how we currently love God and love others,
what Scripture says, and to challenge each of us towards love.
This FREE resource may be found HERE. (Scroll toward bottom of home page.)