And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 ESV)
Most of us are probably familiar with this brilliant answer Christ gave after being asked to state the greatest commandment. However, when I remember the fact that Jesus was asked this question by the Pharisee’s, His answer takes on new implications.
The Pharisee’s were a deceitful bunch that made a big show of how much they loved God. They even deceived themselves. In their defense, I’m sure many of them really believed that they loved God.
I’m a lot like the Pharisee’s. I can feel really good about the fact that I do a lot of things that make it seem that I really love God. I read my Bible, I pray, I worship, I go to church. I work hard at giving my heart, strength, soul, and mind to God. All really good things that can be stored and found under the first commandment, but Jesus doesn’t stop there…
In one sentence Jesus forever reveals the unbreakable link between loving God and loving others. You can’t have one without the other. I think the Pharisee’s hearts might have fallen a little bit as they heard these words. My heart falls a little bit as the Holy Spirit re-speaks these words into my heart, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
You see, we can easily deceive ourselves into believing that we really love God, but there is a litmus test of sorts that has been provided for us, and it’s this; how well do I love others? The people in my life act as a type of mirror, revealing who I really am. I might like to believe all day long that I love God…but am I patient with others? I might like to believe that I love God…but do I gossip? I might like to believe that I love God…but do I treat my spouse with kindness?
Though many may try, we can’t separate the two commands. We can’t truly love God while neglecting loving others. Paul shows this in Philippians 2 by encouraging us to have the attitude of Christ.
Jesus IS God. If we truly love Him, then we love the fact that He is kind, He is merciful, He is patient, He weeps with those that weep, He cares for the needs of others, and so on. If we truly love God, then we will begin to adopt His attributes and His causes. This means that we will find ourselves desiring to be kind, desiring to be merciful, desiring to be patient, and desiring to care for the needs of others…and I believe that that those desires will begin to be made reality within us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God is good and has provided those you find around you as a protection against being deceived. Otherwise we might find ourselves loving an imaginary god who, like us, is inclined to disregarding others.