The 2 greatest commandments

Pipp@ said:

I know right...just about everything is "processed" nowadays lol

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YaHuaH said:

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

I have been pondering these questions lately, what does it mean to love God? What does it mean to love others "as ourselves", and what does "love thy enemies" really mean?

I could hardly think of "loving myself", in fact, the opposite has been true of me for most of my life, so can a person who does not "love" themselves, truly love others? The mainstream culture would have us believe we can't. We must "love ourselves first", before we can truly love another....

But then I get to thinking about how Jesus loved people while on earth and how he wants us to love others in the same way. Even in loving our enemies, Jesus wants us to behave differently than sinners, even though many people struggle with the concepts found in Luke 6:27-36 there is also the interesting passage in Proverbs 25:21-22 which says:

21 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat.
If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.

This should be encouraging, shouldn't it?

Back to my theory: I think we "love" ourselves because we naturally take care of our own needs, and I think we are meant to love other people in the same way. It is not an emotion, it's an action. Jesus didn't just go around loving on everyone, giving them bearhugs - he did better than that - he helped them and he healed them.

So, what is the greatest commandment then?
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind."

If love is a doing word, perhaps loving God means obeying his will ( check) but isn't it interesting that the way Jesus describes that we have to love God is in a much greater way than we are to love each other? They're "equally important", but God is first, right? Do you think we humans have those commandments in reverse when we look at the reality of our relationship with God?

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YahuahSaves said:

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

I have been pondering these questions lately, what does it mean to love God? What does it mean to love others "as ourselves", and what does "love thy enemies" really mean?

I could hardly think of "loving myself", in fact, the opposite has been true of me for most of my life, so can a person who does not "love" themselves, truly love others? The mainstream culture would have us believe we can't. We must "love ourselves first", before we can truly love another....

But then I get to thinking about how Jesus loved people while on earth and how he wants us to love others in the same way. Even in loving our enemies, Jesus wants us to behave differently than sinners, even though many people struggle with the concepts found in Luke 6:27-36 there is also the interesting passage in Proverbs 25:21-22 which says:

21 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat.
If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.

This should be encouraging, shouldn't it?

Back to my theory: I think we "love" ourselves because we naturally take care of our own needs, and I think we are meant to love other people in the same way. It is not an emotion, it's an action. Jesus didn't just go around loving on everyone, giving them bearhugs - he did better than that - he helped them and he healed them.

So, what is the greatest commandment then?
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind."

If love is a doing word, perhaps loving God means obeying his will ( check) but isn't it interesting that the way Jesus describes that we have to love God is in a much greater way than we are to love each other? They're "equally important", but God is first, right? Do you think we humans have those commandments in reverse when we look at the reality of our relationship with God?

Click to expand...

YahuahSaves said:

Self-destruction is not love. Everything we do that's destructive, inflicting pain on ourselves is not born from love but from pain and hate. Often people are selfish because there is something lacking within (love) and we seek to fill the void or numb the pain with external things. Even people with inflated egos don't truly love themselves. What drives people to achieve and put their identity and self-worth in those achievements is often due to not knowing God. Love comes from God, so does our true identity and worth as a human being. The world we live in will always tell us the opposite is true and so believing God (faith) is critical to the healing process. When we truly believe God loves us, we are then able to see ourselves as he does and can then truly love others without being hindered by our feelings or our ego.

Click to expand...

YahuahSaves said:

If love is a doing word, perhaps loving God means obeying his will ( check) but isn't it interesting that the way Jesus describes that we have to love God is in a much greater way than we are to love each other? They're "equally important", but God is first, right? Do you think we humans have those commandments in reverse when we look at the reality of our relationship with God?

Click to expand...