loving

Mark 12

28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate.

He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked,

"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

  29 Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this:

'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD.

30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart,

all your soul,

all your mind,

and all your strength.'

31 The second is equally important:

'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

No other commandment is greater than these."

Jesus boiled the whole thing down to 4 words

Love God, love others.

Here's what He did NOT say...

Love God, judge others.

Love God, convict others.

Love God, redeem others.

Love God, straighten out others.

Love God, be the moral compass for others.

Love God, stay away from others who aren't Christians.

Love God, feel superior to others.

Love God, ignore others.

Love God, control others.

(I'm sure you could come up with some more...)

No, Jesus made it very plain...

Love God, love others.

And now, here's what John had to say about loving others...

(buckle up...)

1 John 4

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another,

for love comes from God.

Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

8 But anyone who does not love does not know God,

for God is love.
  

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world

so that we might have eternal life through him.

10 This is real love...

not that we loved God,

but that he loved us

and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
  

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much,

we surely ought to love each other.

12 No one has ever seen God.

But if we love each other,

God lives in us,

and his love is brought to full expression in us.
  

13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.

14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them,

and they live in God.

16 We know how much God loves us,

and we have put our trust in his love.
  

God is love,

and all who live in love live in God,

and God lives in them.

17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.

So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment,

but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
  

18 Such love has no fear,

because perfect love expels all fear.

If we are afraid,

it is for fear of punishment,

and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

19 We love each other because he loved us first.

  20 If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister,

that person is a liar;

for if we don't love people we can see,

how can we love God,

whom we cannot see?

21 And he has given us this command:

Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.

Well... there you have it.