The Most Important Things

Of all the commandments of God, which is the most important? Jesus answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your hear and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' there is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28, 30-31

Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

The Apostle Paul wrote, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." Romans 12:10

The most important thing in life is love: love for God, and love for others. Obviously we are to love and honor our parents, love our husband/wife, love our children, and other extended family members. That usually seems pretty easy, as we are very committed, quite naturally, to love our own blood/our family.

But God says first and foremost we are to love God; and not just emotionally, or conceptually, or religiously. No, we are to love God with every fiber in our body; heart, soul, mind and strength. The most important thing in life is to be in a loving relationship with God. NOTHING... (let me repeat that)... NOTHING is more important! And please understand, I am not talking about religion.

I often hear people say, "I'm not religious" or "Well, you are just the religious type." Or they may ask me, "Are you religious?" My answer to that question is unequivocally, "NO! I am not religious!" Christianity (although it is identified as one of the major "religions" of the world) is not about being religious, it is about living in a personal, living relationship with God, through His Son Jesus Christ.

In John 17:3 Jesus says, "This is eternal life: that they may KNOW You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Again, nothing is more important in life than getting to know God intimately and personally through a loving, personal relationship. Our salvation is dependent upon the reality of getting to know God in that way. Not "knowing about God," but knowing Him intimately and personally through a loving relationship very much like knowing my wife/husband. It isn't sexual, but it is every bit as personal and intimate.

So, NOTHING is more important than loving God. But Jesus went on to say, a second commandment is like it, or equal to it, and that is to love your neighbor as you would love yourself. So of equal importance is to love others as much as you love and take care of yourself. In reality, I think we all have to admit that loving your spouse, loving your mom and dad, and loving your children and grand-children is actually loving yourself. It always take some effort to love others as much as you love yourself, but when they are your own blood it usually isn't too hard to do that.

But Jesus said we are love our "neighbor" as ourselves. That means we are to love others, not being limited to our own family. We are supposed to actively express our love to others OUTSIDE our own families. That was why God established the Church. It is a training ground for learning to love others who are different from ourselves, who are not necessarily a part of our own blood relatives. As we learn to love others in the church, we learn to love others who are not even a part of the believing community (because "others" or "neighbor" includes non-Christians as well as other Christians).

Life is all about love. Because God is love, the most important lesson He wants you to learn is how to love. As we learn to love others, we become more like Him. Love is the very foundation of every command God has given us. "The whole law can be summed up in this one command: 'Love others as you love yourself." Galatians 5:14 LB

God wants us to love others, but He is particularly concerned that we learn to love others in His family (the Church). Why is God so concerned that we give special attention to other believers in the church? Because God wants His family to be known for its love for one another more than anything else. God said our love for one another, not our doctrinal beliefs, is our greatest witness to the world that God is real.

So I hope you are committed in this life to the MOST IMPORTANT THINGS. We are called to love God, to love one another in God's family, and to love those outside the family of God as well. Step outside yourself today and begin to demonstrate that you love others as much as you love yourself. As it says in 1 John 3:18, "Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions."

Love,
Roger