Thank you for reading the message this week. This has been a very hot and stormy week where I live here in the middle of the US. I hope that you are all having a good week. I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to post these messages.
Last week, we began a new series of messages looking into what the Bible has to say about the importance of love and being a loving person. We are looking at what characteristics will be part of the life of a person living a life of love according to the Scriptures.
In the message last week, we saw that Jesus gave all of us who are His followers a new commandment. He told us to love one another. Love is what the Christian faith is all about because we follow the one who loved us so much that He came from Heaven to redeem us from our sins.
Today, I want us to focus on what I am calling the priorities of love according to Jesus. In Matthew 22, Jesus tells us that what the two greatest commandments are. He tells us that the greatest commandment is to the love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. The second commandment is that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Let's start with the greatest commandment. Jesus tells us that in order to be the people of love that He has called us to be, we need to love God with all that we have within us. That means that all of our life is to be devoted to and direct toward knowing God and doing what He has called us to do in this world. We are to give all we have within us to serve God and to draw closer to Him each and every day. Part of this manifests itself in being obedient to the commandments given to us by the Lord Jesus.
When we love God, we will also love our neighbor. Jesus illustrated this type of love by giving us the parable of the Good Samaritan. We are to love everyone in this world. Everyone is our neighbor.
Loving our neighbor as ourselves means following the Golden Rule given to us by the Lord. Jesus told us to do unto others as we would have done to us. We should treat other people the same way that we would like to be treated. We should help others and seek the best for others as we are enabled and strengthened by the Lord Jesus.
Being a person who loves others the way that Jesus intended means loving our enemies and even doing good to those who aren't always very nice to us. I know that this is a very difficult thing to do. However, I believe that if we make the attempt to be a person of love in the world, the Lord Jesus will give us the help that we need to do it. Even if we are rejected, the Lord Jesus knows that we tried to reach out in love to a hurting world.
The greatest way that we can demonstrate love for our neighbors is to share with them the good news of Jesus' love. When we tell others about Jesus, we are telling them how they can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life in the presence of the Lord Jesus forever. That is the greatest gift that one person can ever give to another person. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please keeping praying that I will feel better. I am trying to do the best I can. I need the Lord's help every day.
Pray for an end to the mpox outbreak.
Let us keep praying for peace. Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and Sudan all need our prayers. I heard on the news this week that there is a lot of conflict in Colombia right now. Let us pray for peace in that country.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of India and Vietnam. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue with our current series. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all.
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