How Do You Love?

An expert in religious law once asked Jesus what the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses was. Jesus responded with one must love the Lord their God with all of their heart, all of their soul, and all of their mind. (Matthew 22:36-37) This thought process often brings about a great deal of wonder, as well as question. As this presumed and professing “expert” asks the question, he must find himself in a quandary from the perplexity of the answer. As an “expert” in religious law, he most likely was awaiting an answer much more complex, yet he receives the simplest of quests – or so it would seem. The wonder of loving as a commandment seems effortless, but then the twist comes as Jesus adds in the “all” factor. Quickly what would appear to be a cynical expression of ease becomes a question as he wonders if this commandment is even possible? One can almost feel the facial expressions of the “expert” in religious law, (someone who seemingly “loves” what he does more than anything in this world), become sullen in his moment of query. Yet if we take Jesus at His Word, it is then we find the real “strength” mentioned in Deuteronomy 6:5 to know what real love truly is. It is not uncommon for those in relationships of any kind to feel surprised when they are told they must love God more than anyone, or anything including their spouse, spouse-to-be, or their children. Many times there is a response of betrayal should one even approach admission of loving God to such heights. Yet this should never be as it is commanded of us to love the Lord “our” God with ALL of our hearts, soul, and mind, and in Deuteronomy strength as well. What seems to cause such a huge moment of surprise for most is the assumption of a great divide. Often times it is seen that to love God more is to love those who are most precious to us less. Many times there is this great divide envisioned that God is elevated to the highest of highs which is great, but then we put our loved ones way down on a fleshly scale that has a divide the size of Mt. Kilimanjaro. When in fact if we truly love God more than anything, then we begin to discover what real Christ-centered love is, and we begin to love those in our life more as well. The divide is narrowed and loved-ones become closer to us than before because God is number one in our life. If we use the fingers on our hand for an example our middle finger, which is the center of our life stands taller. Many people misuse this for other reasons and many misuse the name of God as well. When it is misused all the other digits are out of sight and reduced to a meaningless amenity, as is our life when we continually distance ourselves from the Lord. But if we hold our hand upright as if to wave or give someone a clap – gimme five – then we see the rest of the digits alongside the center figure finger. While they may not be as tall as that finger, they are right their next to it and well represented as part of the body of the hand. With Christ as the center of our lives and being the one we love the most He will be the one who stands out most in our love for others. Yet they will be right there alongside Him in our relationship of love for others and they will appreciate the love we share with them through the central figure of Christ. Perhaps this is why Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. My wife and I desire for each other to love God more than anything including ourselves. We know that if we keep the proper order of love, our love for each other will be the way God intended it to be and our love for each other will be stronger every day. When Jesus said, “may that which God has joined together let no man put asunder”, His premise was on a life centered on this greatest commandment. How can I be sure of this? 1 John 4:16 says this: We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. So you see, if you love God with all you have, He lives in you, and you will love like He loves and those around you will benefit from it. Everyone is blessed. There really isn’t a divide. There is a closeness that is like nothing you have ever experienced before, because God is in it! How do you love?