- Jun 29, 2019
- 651
- 169
- 60
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
Lord Jesus has given us two great commandments that sums up the Law and the prophets...we are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and we are to love eachother as we love ourselves. Seems that God commands us to love, yet love is an attitude in the least and a feeling at the most. Either way, it is an emotion.
A reasonable person might believe, though, that no Law exists that directly governs our emotions. We have emotions in reaction to a Law, including anger and fear, but we will never feel the emotion of love for people simply because the Law tells us to.
At best, the Law induces us to do things out of love for God and for our neighbor. But in terms of our love for God, we will never do things in accordance with His Will unless we strive for faith in Him. And when that faith is strong enough, we don’t need a Law to tell us to love Him and our neighbor.
At times, we may perceive a conflict between loving our neighbor and loving God, unless we are mindful of what the Scriptures say. We may seek to gain acceptance by our neighbor in the hope that such acceptance leads to our neighbor loving us and us loving our neighbor. What if our neighbor wants us to do something we know to be evil? What if our neighbor infers to us that if we do such a thing, we will belong with that neighbor? Were we not commanded to love our neighbor? And does not our love for our neighbor in turn lead to our loving God?
If someone you considered gaining acceptance with, asks you to help them rob a convenience store, would you do so to show your love for them? If you believe that you would gain acceptance with someone by indulging in their prejudices and acting in a manner that harms others because you believe that would gain their acceptance, would you think that gaining their acceptance is acceptable to God? Would you crush the life out of a person, believe that doing so would gain you acceptance by, and the love of, others, and in so doing, Gain God’s love and acceptance? Of course not. Of course not.
The Scriptures lays parameters detailing how far to go to gain love and acceptance. Romans 12:2 addresses the subject, saying “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Colossians 3:2 tells us to be mindful of “things that are above,” i.e. God, and not of things on earth. In due context, the “things that are on earth” are things that are sinful and would lead to sin. You crush the life out of a person for any reason other than self-defense, that is a sin; as such, you fulfill earthly objectives that have no place under God, and if anyone were to accept you for such an action, then under God they are accomplices to such evil.
In terms of loving God and eachother, Galatians 1:10 says we should ask ourselves the following questions: “...[A]m I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Fulfilling the two great commandments of Christ includes loving your neighbor. What form would that love take? Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” Sharing what you have would include enlightening your neighbor of God’s existence and what He wants, to the extent that they don’t know. Bu the Bible tells us that if they continue in their wicked ways, to walk away from them since they are clearly ensconced with the evil in the world, and as such, their fate is in God’s Hands.
A reasonable person might believe, though, that no Law exists that directly governs our emotions. We have emotions in reaction to a Law, including anger and fear, but we will never feel the emotion of love for people simply because the Law tells us to.
At best, the Law induces us to do things out of love for God and for our neighbor. But in terms of our love for God, we will never do things in accordance with His Will unless we strive for faith in Him. And when that faith is strong enough, we don’t need a Law to tell us to love Him and our neighbor.
At times, we may perceive a conflict between loving our neighbor and loving God, unless we are mindful of what the Scriptures say. We may seek to gain acceptance by our neighbor in the hope that such acceptance leads to our neighbor loving us and us loving our neighbor. What if our neighbor wants us to do something we know to be evil? What if our neighbor infers to us that if we do such a thing, we will belong with that neighbor? Were we not commanded to love our neighbor? And does not our love for our neighbor in turn lead to our loving God?
If someone you considered gaining acceptance with, asks you to help them rob a convenience store, would you do so to show your love for them? If you believe that you would gain acceptance with someone by indulging in their prejudices and acting in a manner that harms others because you believe that would gain their acceptance, would you think that gaining their acceptance is acceptable to God? Would you crush the life out of a person, believe that doing so would gain you acceptance by, and the love of, others, and in so doing, Gain God’s love and acceptance? Of course not. Of course not.
The Scriptures lays parameters detailing how far to go to gain love and acceptance. Romans 12:2 addresses the subject, saying “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Colossians 3:2 tells us to be mindful of “things that are above,” i.e. God, and not of things on earth. In due context, the “things that are on earth” are things that are sinful and would lead to sin. You crush the life out of a person for any reason other than self-defense, that is a sin; as such, you fulfill earthly objectives that have no place under God, and if anyone were to accept you for such an action, then under God they are accomplices to such evil.
In terms of loving God and eachother, Galatians 1:10 says we should ask ourselves the following questions: “...[A]m I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Fulfilling the two great commandments of Christ includes loving your neighbor. What form would that love take? Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” Sharing what you have would include enlightening your neighbor of God’s existence and what He wants, to the extent that they don’t know. Bu the Bible tells us that if they continue in their wicked ways, to walk away from them since they are clearly ensconced with the evil in the world, and as such, their fate is in God’s Hands.
Last edited:
