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Food for Thought

Called To Love

Called To Love

With all the talk going on about the Ten Commandments let’s
look instead at what Jesus called the greatest commandment.
Matt 22:37 is the reference to Duet 6:5, “And thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and
with all thy might.” Why is it called the greatest? What does
it mean to love God with everything you’ve got? Let’s compare
it to how a mountaineer would look at the summit of a mountain.
It would take all his focus, and effort, and stamina to
attempt the climb. Similarly, loving God isn’t a natural emotion
or desire for humans, but it’s in the attempt that the blessings
for those who persevere are made manifest. Loving God is the
foundational touchstone in a Christian’s behavior. To this
we can add Matt 22:39-40, “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.” That’s quite a statement,
that all Christian motives are based on either loving God or
loving your neighbor. Those two imperatives are to be the
catalyst for all our words and actions, for Christianity should
basically be a giving religion, giving time, money, and
self, because of our love. “Husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself
for it.” (Eph 5:25) and v. 28, “So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself.”
With the divorce rate among Christians higher than the National
average I wonder if these verses are even taught anymore. How
many times has the testimony of a believer been dismissed because
unseemly revelations have sprung up about his marriage or home
life? The unity of marriage is too often exploited and disposed
of because love for self reigns over love for one’s partner.
Unfortunately that love of self rears
it’s head in many churches also, despite Scripture’s admonition,
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we
love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in
death.” (I John 3:14) There are churches with intrigues enough
that would make you think they were following a script from
Hollywood. By the inference of these verses, what do you
think should be the watchword of today’s Christianity? “For
this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another.” (I John 3:11) Christians are called
to love. Are you living up to your calling?