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A Love For God
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:37-40.
Let us first consider the concept of love.
There are several different types of love.
There is fileos - which is tender affection.
Philanthropia - which is kindness.
And agape - which is a deliberate assessment of the will as a matter of duty or propriety.
The love that we have for God should be fileos as it relates to caring about God's will, heart, and mind being manifest in us. That love should also be philanthropia as it relates to the willingness to be stewards and the giving of our time, talent, and treasure towards his purpose.
Finally, that love should be agape as it relates to making Him our choice separate from emotions and circumstances. This is the love that establishes our sonship; that we make God our choice not only in the environment of His manifest presence, glory and love but also when we feel alone, abandoned and detached from Him.
He promised to not fail nor forsake us. To that end, our commitment must be to remain devoted and committed to Him with the assistance of grace and mercy.
The selected text deals with Jesus addressing a question put to him by a Pharisee trying to trick Jesus into saying something that would allow for accusation and rejection of Him. They ask Him which is the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses.
Jesus strategically and with much wisdom answers them in a way that the intended accusation is annulled. When we look at the answer of Jesus, we can rightfully accuse Him of giving two commandments that are not part of the ten given to Moses. It would almost seem as though Jesus made up two other commandments.
I have asked people to quote the Ten Commandments and many have included these two in them. What Jesus does here is actually summarizes the two tables of the law.
Table one is in one hand of Moses coming down from the mountain dealing with man's relationship to God. Table two is in the other hand of Moses dealing with man's relationship to one another. So then what Jesus gives is a summary of the law on which all the law and all the prophets are based.
Love God with all your heart. The heart is the life source of the body. We should love Him with our life; making Him the source of our entire existence.
Love God with all your soul. The soul is the expression of our heart. We should love God also in the ways that we express ourselves in what we feel; submitting all our temperament to Him.
Love God with all your mind. The mind is the source of our recollection and memory. We should love God more than the emotional and psychological effects of our past experiences and encounters; presenting to him our yesterdays that our tomorrows may manifest the better of us.
Our love for God is a choice that empowers us to progress into the purpose and destiny designed for our lives.
A Love For God
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:37-40.
Let us first consider the concept of love.
There are several different types of love.
There is fileos - which is tender affection.
Philanthropia - which is kindness.
And agape - which is a deliberate assessment of the will as a matter of duty or propriety.
The love that we have for God should be fileos as it relates to caring about God's will, heart, and mind being manifest in us. That love should also be philanthropia as it relates to the willingness to be stewards and the giving of our time, talent, and treasure towards his purpose.
Finally, that love should be agape as it relates to making Him our choice separate from emotions and circumstances. This is the love that establishes our sonship; that we make God our choice not only in the environment of His manifest presence, glory and love but also when we feel alone, abandoned and detached from Him.
He promised to not fail nor forsake us. To that end, our commitment must be to remain devoted and committed to Him with the assistance of grace and mercy.
The selected text deals with Jesus addressing a question put to him by a Pharisee trying to trick Jesus into saying something that would allow for accusation and rejection of Him. They ask Him which is the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses.
Jesus strategically and with much wisdom answers them in a way that the intended accusation is annulled. When we look at the answer of Jesus, we can rightfully accuse Him of giving two commandments that are not part of the ten given to Moses. It would almost seem as though Jesus made up two other commandments.
I have asked people to quote the Ten Commandments and many have included these two in them. What Jesus does here is actually summarizes the two tables of the law.
Table one is in one hand of Moses coming down from the mountain dealing with man's relationship to God. Table two is in the other hand of Moses dealing with man's relationship to one another. So then what Jesus gives is a summary of the law on which all the law and all the prophets are based.
Love God with all your heart. The heart is the life source of the body. We should love Him with our life; making Him the source of our entire existence.
Love God with all your soul. The soul is the expression of our heart. We should love God also in the ways that we express ourselves in what we feel; submitting all our temperament to Him.
Love God with all your mind. The mind is the source of our recollection and memory. We should love God more than the emotional and psychological effects of our past experiences and encounters; presenting to him our yesterdays that our tomorrows may manifest the better of us.
Our love for God is a choice that empowers us to progress into the purpose and destiny designed for our lives.
