How to Love God and Neighbor

If we are to live as God wants us to live, we need to know His Word. Study His Word and you will soon understand what God says. In His Word, He reveals Himself in all His fullness. He reveals who we are and why we need a Savior. He clearly presents the gospel of Jesus Christ, showing us how to be saved. He teaches us all we need to know about living a life of righteousness; about becoming Christlike. He tells us how to live right toward our fellow believers and how to reach out in love to those who do not yet know Christ.

Let's take a closer look at Matthew 22:37-39. Jesus said to a lawyer in answer to his question as to which commandment is the greatest, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Notice what God says in these three verses. He begins by speaking about our relationship with Himself. We are to love Him intensely. Our overwhelming desire should be to know God and to let nothing get in the way of our love for Him. And things do tend to get in the way.

Work can get in the way. Try to find a solution that will allow you to keep your job and yet be allowed the time to worship at church. There are usually ways to work something out with most employers. Perhaps rotating Sundays or switching day and night hours. Pray about it and check it out. This is vital for growing your relationship with the Lord.

Your family can get in the way. Oh, maybe they don't intend to, but they can get in the way. They sometimes have a way of planning family gatherings early on a Sunday, causing you to miss worship. Talk with them. Let them know that you do not want to miss church and that it is alright to start without you. You will join them after church and eat when you get there. They will understand. They may even begin  to start the family gatherings a little later, allowing whoever wants to attend church to do so.

When you love the Lord "with all your heart" (v. 37a) you will not let anything get in the way of worship, prayer, reading God's Word, or anything else that helps you draw close to the Lord. It is your life. As a Christian, your walk with the Lord Jesus should never be compromised. When you love Him "with all your heart" (v. 37a) you will let nothing stand in the way.

To love God "with all your soul" (v. 37b) indicates the depth to which your love for Him goes. We are to love Him from the very depths of our being, with all we are. Everything about us should scream, "I love Jesus above all else!" Who else is there like Jesus? No one! No one even compares to Him. So why put anyone ahead of Jesus? Nothing else compares to Him. So why put anything ahead of Jesus?

When you let nothing get in the way of your love for God and you let that love flow from the very depths of your being, then you will keep your mind stayed on Him. Isaiah said, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You" (Is. 26:3). That is what it means to love the Lord "with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37c).

Your focus is always on Jesus. He is on your mind every morning. He is on your mind at bedtime. He is on your mind throughout the day. Every day, all the time, we are "fixing our eyes on Jesus" (Heb. 12:2, NASB). If you want to keep your life on track, that is what you do, how you live. You keep your eyes focused on Jesus and listen to what He says. He will guide you in incredible ways.

The second great commandment deals with our love for one another: "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matt. 22:39). In what ways do you love yourself? You take care of yourself. You bathe, keeping yourself clean and as germ-free as possible. You groom and dress to look your best and to feel your best. You keep food on the table and make sure to remain healthy. You keep a roof over your head and maintain reliable transportation. At times, even recreation or a hobby is important to keep our minds fresh. But most importantly, we seek to maintain our daily walk with Jesus.

That is exactly how you should treat others. If they need food or clothing or a place to stay, you help with what they need. Help them get the care and medicine they need when they are sick. Suggest ways to relax when they are overstressed. But above all, introduce them to Jesus. Help unbelieving neighbors find Jesus and help believers remain faithful in their walk with Him. Amen.

How We Should Then Live

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you" (Ex. 20:12). This fifth commandment speaks of our relationships with others, starting with family. Not only does God command us to honor our parents but doing so is rewarded with long life.

In its simple form, the Hebrew word translated as "honor," means heavy (Warren Baker, D.R.E. and Eugene Carpenter, Ph.D., The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, [AMG Publishers: Chattanooga, Tennessee, 2003], 491). Here it is passive, meaning to give weight to something, thus, to "honor" or give glory to something (Ibid). In this case, we are to give honor or glory to our parents. In this way, we continue to honor God as well.

The sixth through the tenth commandments are rapid fire, each having to do with how we treat others. "You shall not murder" (Ex. 20:13). "Murder" means to kill or slay another person, either by premeditation or by accident (Ibid, 1074). Man was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27), so certainly we should never take another person's life.

"You shall not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14). When Adam first saw Eve, he said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen. 2:23). Then Moses added in verse 24 the message that was from God: "Therefore a man shall leave His father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Being one with your wife certainly rules out adultery.

"You shall not steal" (Ex. 20:15). The Hebrew word for "steal" means to take something or someone wrongfully, regardless of the reason (Ibid, 209). Even when you have a good reason, to take something without permission is stealing. It is sin and should be avoided. God says we should never do wrong by our neighbor.

"You shall not bear false witness" (Ex. 20:16). To bear false witness is worse than lying because it takes the lie to a whole new level. To bear false witness means to implicate someone else in a matter in a way they were not otherwise involved. It could involve lying to accuse someone falsely or to help them escape the consequences for something for which they were guilty. Either way, to bear false witness is wrong.

"You shall not covet" (Ex. 20:17). The word "covet" in Hebrew can indicate that something is desirable in a good sense (Ibid, 348), such as in Psalm 19:10 where the Lord's judgments are to be "desired" even more than gold. In Exodus 20:17, the word takes the negative sense of a desire for something that is so intense it leads to lust. You want what belongs to someone else to the point that your desire becomes excessive. God says, "Do not let that happen."

Living right by your fellow man is what God's way is all about. It is your calling. That is what He says as He speaks to us through His Word. Just as Matthew 22:37-38 sum up the first four commandments about our relationship with God, Matthew 22:39, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," sums up these last six commandments.

When you listen, you can hear God speak through His Word. As you can see from Exodus 20, what God says affects our relationship with Him and our relationship with others, especially our fellow believers. In His Word, the Lord tells us everything we need to know about life and godliness: "as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue" (2 Pet. 1:3). God's Word tells us how we should then live. Amen.

The Ten Commandments Speak Clearly

I can think of no better place to hear God's voice than Exodus 20:2-17. The Lord has already been speaking to us right from the opening words of Genesis, but for our purposes we will start with the Ten Commandments, as the Lord God has laid them before us. Today we will look at what God is saying to us in the first four commandments.

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex. 20:2-3). Listen, and you can hear God speak clearly, right to your heart. According to the first commandment, God is to be first in your life. Matthew 22:37-38 is much the same: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment."

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image" (Ex. 20:4a). The second commandment builds on the first and reinforces the all-important truth that God must always be first in your life. You must not put anything or anyone ahead of the Lord. Follow Him above all else.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain" (Ex. 20:7). Again, a command closely related to the first two. It is all about making sure that the Lord God is in first place, above all else, in your life. And note that we have not exhausted God's Word, not even in this single verse. The rest of the verse reads, "for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." To dishonor God is serious business. To use His name in a way that belittles the name of God brings severe consequences.

In the same way, each of these commands has more to it when you read the context. We are not being exhaustive in our study at this point. What I am doing is introducing the importance of being in the Word daily, looking at each verse in its context, and gleaning from the Word what God is saying to you at that moment. His Word is truly our guide for how we ought to live in Christ.

The fourth commandment continues along the same line of thought: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8). Again, the verses that follow expand on the meaning. Verse 11 gives the theology behind this: "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Even the Sabbath is made for us—a day to honor the Lord by resting from our labors. Amen.

That Still Small Voice

God speaks to us in various ways. What He says when He speaks is of extreme importance. Do you hear God’s voice? What is He saying? Or perhaps you are asking, "What would He have to say to Me?" The Psalmist declared, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" (Ps. 8:4a). Perhaps along with him, you are asking, "Who am I that You are mindful of me?" Man is the capstone of God's creation because He made us in His own image (Gen. 1:26-27). Then God gave man a command: "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it" (v. 28).

From the beginning, God has communicated with man in one way or another; perhaps audibly, or through visions and dreams, but ultimately through His written Word. If you want to know what God is saying to you, read the Word. In the Bible, from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, God speaks to you. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). God speaks through His Word to direct you in the way you should live.

If you want to know what God is saying, look around you. Through His creation, God speaks and tells you about Himself. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" (Rom. 1:20). God makes Himself known through all that He has made.

A walk through the Bible reveals so many things that God has said concerning how we ought to think and act and live our lives. In every book, in one way or another, God speaks to us. We simply need to read carefully and be still and listen. God told the psalmist, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).

In 1 Kings 19:11a God spoke to Elijah, saying, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." When he went, and stood on the mountain before God, here is what he experienced: "And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice" (vv. 11b-12).

And how did Elijah respond? "So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'" (v. 13). Elijah listened for God's "still small voice" (v. 12b). Look through the Word and let God speak to you. Listen for that "still small voice." Amen.

Walk Worthy of Your Calling

It all begins with the message of the cross. Paul said, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18). Then he added: "It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:21b-24).

Then Paul went on to state exactly who God calls: "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord'" (1 Cor. 1:26-31).

Give glory to the Lord because He chose you. You are not deserving of what God has given you in any way. Still God chose you and called you to Himself. He calls sinners to repentance and faith, and to justification and salvation. He calls saints to be sanctified and holy, to be fearless and faithful, to be an encourager, to serve and minister, and to persevere. One day He will even call His people home to heaven.

Jesus shed His precious blood and died on the cross for you, for your forgiveness, for your salvation. If you were the only person in the world, Jesus still would have come and died for you. He loves you that much. As a believer, He has called you to live a life of righteousness in Him.

While in prison in Rome, Paul wrote, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called" (Eph. 4:1). God has called you to repentance and salvation. God has called you to a life of faith and sanctification, becoming conformed to the image of Christ. "Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called" (v. 1b). Live your life for Jesus. Follow His call wherever it leads. Walk in the power of the Spirit and fulfill God’s purpose for your life. Amen.