Love Me, Love Men
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 22:40
Jesus said that the Ten Commandments could be summed up in two commands: love Me, and love men. Perhaps you wonder how you can ever live up to all the commands in the Bible. The answer is very simple: love God, love men, and do what you want.
When you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you love your neighbor as yourself, you can do what you want because you will be the person God wants you to be. Because of your love, you won’t kill anyone, defile anyone, steal anything, or covet what another person has. The Spirit will cultivate in your heart a love that precludes any desire to do wrong.
MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 294). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
Lessons Learned: It's amazing that what the Pharisees had made so complicated (the Old Testament Law) Jesus was able to make so simple. The Pharisees heaped on layer after layer of man-made, self-glorifying, superficial, rules for righteousness, but Jesus summed up God's Law into two simple commands; to love Him, and to love men. If you do these two things with a sincere heart, you will be obeying all the commands in the Bible.
Applications: It is actually really easy to obey God's commandments if you are in Christ and He is in you. The Holy Spirit pours the love of God into the hearts of believers, and enables us to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and love our neighbors as ourselves. If you focus on living your life according to Christ's two greatest commandments (Mat 22:37-39), you will be living the way God want's you to. If you love God and love men, you will be fulfilling the Law as God intended.
Prayer Subjects: Pray for the love of God to inspire me to love God and love men. Pray that I would focus on simply following Christ's commands, so that I would fulfill God's law. Pray for the Holy Spirit to empower me to obey God's commands out of love.
Listen to this entry
Matthew 22:40
Jesus said that the Ten Commandments could be summed up in two commands: love Me, and love men. Perhaps you wonder how you can ever live up to all the commands in the Bible. The answer is very simple: love God, love men, and do what you want.
When you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you love your neighbor as yourself, you can do what you want because you will be the person God wants you to be. Because of your love, you won’t kill anyone, defile anyone, steal anything, or covet what another person has. The Spirit will cultivate in your heart a love that precludes any desire to do wrong.
MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 294). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
Lessons Learned: It's amazing that what the Pharisees had made so complicated (the Old Testament Law) Jesus was able to make so simple. The Pharisees heaped on layer after layer of man-made, self-glorifying, superficial, rules for righteousness, but Jesus summed up God's Law into two simple commands; to love Him, and to love men. If you do these two things with a sincere heart, you will be obeying all the commands in the Bible.
Applications: It is actually really easy to obey God's commandments if you are in Christ and He is in you. The Holy Spirit pours the love of God into the hearts of believers, and enables us to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and love our neighbors as ourselves. If you focus on living your life according to Christ's two greatest commandments (Mat 22:37-39), you will be living the way God want's you to. If you love God and love men, you will be fulfilling the Law as God intended.
Prayer Subjects: Pray for the love of God to inspire me to love God and love men. Pray that I would focus on simply following Christ's commands, so that I would fulfill God's law. Pray for the Holy Spirit to empower me to obey God's commands out of love.
Listen to this entry
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