Love God. Love people. The end.
Matthew 22:34-40
"But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And 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. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
In the last couple years I have really gotten into reading stuff by Jen Hatmaker and she sums it up like this, "Love God love people, then end." It's so basic, so simple...and yet not. Jesus took on flesh, lived among us and then died for us so that we could be free from sin. He embodied love, he lived out love and then he died so we might live. Not only died though but conquered death by coming back to life. That is not what I mean to get into today...mainly I want to talk about love. I'm not sure how or why this happened but throughout time we have somehow come to think that love is this pretty little thing, wrapped up in a package all neat and tidy. Maybe it's Disney's fault, maybe a little bit can be blamed on Shakespeare, I'm sure romantic comedies have ruined us as well...but we have come to believe that love is painless, effortless, warm and fuzzy. The older I get the more I realize, yeah...not so much.
The ultimate example of real and genuine love that Jesus made through His death and resurrection was complicated, dramatic, dirty and bloody. He was betrayed, wrongly accused, spit on, beaten, whipped, broken and hurt beyond our imagination. Yet He did it willingly and selflessly.
The older I get and the more I reflect on my faith and what I believe, the more I realize I don't know as much as I thought I did. I guess that's how it goes with most things, when we're young we think we know everything but as we age and experience life more we are extremely humbled by how little we understand life.
I am a child of divorce and I have heard enough about people I know getting divorced recently that it has really rattled me. Made me think, "wow...it really can happen to anyone". First let me just say, I'm not here to judge in the least. I know there can be many factors that lead to the decision to separate and everyone has their own story. I've just been thinking a lot lately about how skewed our societies view of love is and wondering how much that might have to do with how common divorce is in our culture. If you go into marriage thinking it will be all flowers and romance then you are sure to be disappointed. If you go into it with the knowledge that it will be dirty, require selflessness and maybe even make you bleed at times, that's a good start. However...easier said than done. We're not all Jesus after all, we are human. I am daily thankful for His example though and constantly asking Him to help me.
Lately Norm and I are really getting into listening to podcasts by Erwin McMannus. I don't know a whole lot about their church in LA called Mosaic but from what I have heard in his sermons so far, I love it. They welcome everyone to be a part of their community...Buddhist, Muslim, Atheist, Christian, Jew. They want everyone to know what the love of Jesus feels like, what true community looks like. That sort of inclusion would make a lot of people uncomfortable but c'mon, did Jesus exclude anyone? If there was anyone He really got ticked off by it was the ones who thought they "knew" everything and did everything the "right" way.
When I read the last part of that verse "You shall love your neighbor as yourself", it's the end that really hits home. Love is not always easy and sadly we don't always love ourselves. We criticize ourselves, don't take care of our bodies, don't ask for help...even hate who we are at times. So not only is Jesus telling us to love others but He's telling us to love ourselves! This is what it all comes down to...LOVE. Love God. Love people. The end. It sounds short and sweet and simple but it's not. Loving people can be the hardest, most painful yet most rewarding act in the world. These are the thoughts I've had brewing in my mind lately. I hope that today you feel loved...by God your maker and by the people in your life.
"But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And 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. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
In the last couple years I have really gotten into reading stuff by Jen Hatmaker and she sums it up like this, "Love God love people, then end." It's so basic, so simple...and yet not. Jesus took on flesh, lived among us and then died for us so that we could be free from sin. He embodied love, he lived out love and then he died so we might live. Not only died though but conquered death by coming back to life. That is not what I mean to get into today...mainly I want to talk about love. I'm not sure how or why this happened but throughout time we have somehow come to think that love is this pretty little thing, wrapped up in a package all neat and tidy. Maybe it's Disney's fault, maybe a little bit can be blamed on Shakespeare, I'm sure romantic comedies have ruined us as well...but we have come to believe that love is painless, effortless, warm and fuzzy. The older I get the more I realize, yeah...not so much.
The ultimate example of real and genuine love that Jesus made through His death and resurrection was complicated, dramatic, dirty and bloody. He was betrayed, wrongly accused, spit on, beaten, whipped, broken and hurt beyond our imagination. Yet He did it willingly and selflessly.
The older I get and the more I reflect on my faith and what I believe, the more I realize I don't know as much as I thought I did. I guess that's how it goes with most things, when we're young we think we know everything but as we age and experience life more we are extremely humbled by how little we understand life.
I am a child of divorce and I have heard enough about people I know getting divorced recently that it has really rattled me. Made me think, "wow...it really can happen to anyone". First let me just say, I'm not here to judge in the least. I know there can be many factors that lead to the decision to separate and everyone has their own story. I've just been thinking a lot lately about how skewed our societies view of love is and wondering how much that might have to do with how common divorce is in our culture. If you go into marriage thinking it will be all flowers and romance then you are sure to be disappointed. If you go into it with the knowledge that it will be dirty, require selflessness and maybe even make you bleed at times, that's a good start. However...easier said than done. We're not all Jesus after all, we are human. I am daily thankful for His example though and constantly asking Him to help me.
Lately Norm and I are really getting into listening to podcasts by Erwin McMannus. I don't know a whole lot about their church in LA called Mosaic but from what I have heard in his sermons so far, I love it. They welcome everyone to be a part of their community...Buddhist, Muslim, Atheist, Christian, Jew. They want everyone to know what the love of Jesus feels like, what true community looks like. That sort of inclusion would make a lot of people uncomfortable but c'mon, did Jesus exclude anyone? If there was anyone He really got ticked off by it was the ones who thought they "knew" everything and did everything the "right" way.
When I read the last part of that verse "You shall love your neighbor as yourself", it's the end that really hits home. Love is not always easy and sadly we don't always love ourselves. We criticize ourselves, don't take care of our bodies, don't ask for help...even hate who we are at times. So not only is Jesus telling us to love others but He's telling us to love ourselves! This is what it all comes down to...LOVE. Love God. Love people. The end. It sounds short and sweet and simple but it's not. Loving people can be the hardest, most painful yet most rewarding act in the world. These are the thoughts I've had brewing in my mind lately. I hope that today you feel loved...by God your maker and by the people in your life.
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