Tag: Greatest

Love the LORD and Your Neighbor

We are always told what not to do when it comes to the law and in rules to follow. Think about the commandments as examples; Don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t covet, don’t worship idols. All of these are obviously right actions and laws to follow, yet they are, as are most others, actions that we are to avoid as opposed to those we are to take.

Jesus was asked which of the commandment is the greatest and I find it amazing that His answer was not of those actions we are to not take, but those that we are to embrace and lead with.

“37And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” – Matthew 22:37-40 (ESV)

Love the LORD and love your neighbor are the greatest and second greatest of the commandments. These actions are what we are to do and not to avoid. We are to love and go from there.

Lori has a former co-worker that had a rough incident and she and I met with him to offer our support. He had spent his whole life being pushed toward religion and resisted and continued to resist even today. We continued to present God’s love to him in our discussion and when we get together even now. But as a point of living the greatest commandments as stated by Jesus, we did not push him, we simply displayed love to him and did not shy away from showing him the love of God. His comment to us was that he loved and appreciated us right back thanks to our simple truth of loving him.

Where we landed with Lori’s coworker is the place where we should be landing every day. We are to love the LORD and love our neighbors. We are to display those actions daily and not shy away from them. We are to be truthful and demonstrate the love of God through our actions with others so that they can see that love, embrace it, and work to display it their own lives as they move forward. So here it is again as Jesus said:

“37And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” – Mathew 22:37-40 (ESV)

Love the LORD and Love your Neighbor.

What is your view as to what actions to do? Are you always looking at what to avoid as the going and best approach? What if you listened to and took the action that Jesus says, love the LORD and Love your Neighbor?

God’s Care for Man

I am amazed that God cares for me. Grateful yes, but still amazed. Why you ask. Well, I am so small in the grand scheme of things.

“3When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?”

— Psalm 8:3-4 (ESV)

Look at these verses and see the grandness of what God has created. And go to Genesis and read all that God created. And see how small we are. We are just sand when it comes to creation. In fact we were created from sand and yet we are God’s greatest creation.

“31And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” – Genesis 1:31 (ESV)

We hold such a special place in the heart of God that once He had finished work on the sixth day He declared that it was “very good”. We were the last creation of God and once complete He was proud of all that He had done.

“5Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

6You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,”

— Psalm 3:5-6 (ESV)

God cares for man. He loves us and will do all to protect and comfort us. We are His children and just as I care for my sons, He cares for us, only greater still. As you continue in Psalm 8, we are just lower than the heavenly beings and we have been crowned with glory and honor. We have dominion over all things in this world and that is all due to the grace of the LORD.

God cares for me. He loves my with all His heart. So much so that He dwells in my heart and sent Jesus to die for me and sent the Holy Spirit to be with me always and guide me through this world. He cares for you as His finest and greatest creation.

What is your view of how God sees you? Do you feel as though you are just another creation that he put together? What if you were to review and know that the LORD cares for you as His greatest creation?