An absence of love reflects the absence of Christ. For how can one say "I love the Lord", when they only keep half of his commandment. They profess unyielding, never-ending love for Jesus, but carry disdain for their fellow man. (Isaiah 29:13, Matt. 15:8) Jesus masterfully condensed the law down into 2 commands (Luke 10:27):
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Ref Deut. 6.5). This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (ref. Lev. 19.18)
What people fail to realize that the commands are mutually inclusive. They are bound by the following statement: "If you love me you will keep my Commandments" (Jn. 14:15). Thus, it is impossible to have Christ as lord and savior if we fail to love our fellow man; it is impossible to love without Christ as center of one’s life. This is not a paradox or circular logic, but rather an implicit fact that cannot be ignored - that in order to have Christ, one must be completely surrendered to him. In our surrender, the impartation and indwelling of the Holy Spirit allows love to manifest and be expressed in adherence to Christ's command.
Why is this important? Because the act of loving Jesus without loving people is manifested in the form of a "works" mentality. Thus one would have the mistaken idea that it is the actions I do - the auxiliaries I participate in within a congregation, how well I behave, how many scriptures I can quote off the top of my head, and all the "things" I did in "Jesus' name, will somehow substitute for obedience to the part Christ's command that we have issue with, namely, the part about loving others. We attempt to sooth the conscience by stroking the ego - padding the resume with nice deeds in an effort to earn a spot in Heaven (or to just avoid hell more than likely).
We can also see the selfishness in such an approach, as we are more concerned with punching our own ticket that inquiring of those whom God has placed in our pathway as to whether or not they have even as much heard the Good News??? In love, there is no selfishness, no self-centeredness. Christ points this out in Luke 9:23-24:
..."If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. "
Selfishness is borne of a selfish motive; love's motivation is to love, as it is self-perpetuating. In an effort to punch our own ticket to heaven, the only thing our selfishness earns us is a window seat on the train ride to hell.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Ref Deut. 6.5). This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (ref. Lev. 19.18)
What people fail to realize that the commands are mutually inclusive. They are bound by the following statement: "If you love me you will keep my Commandments" (Jn. 14:15). Thus, it is impossible to have Christ as lord and savior if we fail to love our fellow man; it is impossible to love without Christ as center of one’s life. This is not a paradox or circular logic, but rather an implicit fact that cannot be ignored - that in order to have Christ, one must be completely surrendered to him. In our surrender, the impartation and indwelling of the Holy Spirit allows love to manifest and be expressed in adherence to Christ's command.
Why is this important? Because the act of loving Jesus without loving people is manifested in the form of a "works" mentality. Thus one would have the mistaken idea that it is the actions I do - the auxiliaries I participate in within a congregation, how well I behave, how many scriptures I can quote off the top of my head, and all the "things" I did in "Jesus' name, will somehow substitute for obedience to the part Christ's command that we have issue with, namely, the part about loving others. We attempt to sooth the conscience by stroking the ego - padding the resume with nice deeds in an effort to earn a spot in Heaven (or to just avoid hell more than likely).
We can also see the selfishness in such an approach, as we are more concerned with punching our own ticket that inquiring of those whom God has placed in our pathway as to whether or not they have even as much heard the Good News??? In love, there is no selfishness, no self-centeredness. Christ points this out in Luke 9:23-24:
..."If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. "
Selfishness is borne of a selfish motive; love's motivation is to love, as it is self-perpetuating. In an effort to punch our own ticket to heaven, the only thing our selfishness earns us is a window seat on the train ride to hell.
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