“…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Matthew 22:37-39 KJV
We were created to love and worship God.
- God gave us life.
- God gave us love.
- God gave us His Son.
- God gave us salvation.
- God gave us His Word.
- God gave us His protection.
- God gave us His continual care.
- God gave us His commandments.
God has given and given and given again. He’s faithful and kind and merciful and loving and full of goodness. He cannot lie, and He loves us far more than we love ourselves.
We, on the other hand, were sinners. We were full of pride and arrogance, often ungrateful, unforgiving, unkind, and unloving. Before we were saved, by nature, we displayed the traits contrary to those of God.
Yet, II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” When you got saved, God gave you a new nature in Christ. Now you have what it takes to be like Him: faithful, kind, merciful, forgiving, loving, honest…
And God wants us to be just like He is. That’s why He’s given us the two greatest commandments on Earth:
- To “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” To love God that much means to take all your focus off of yourself and place it on Him; to let your life revolve around God and His Word, His will, His ways, His plans, His goodness; to obey God in such a way that you yield total control of your life to Him. Only then can you love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
- To “love thy neighbour as thyself.” Now to truly love your neighbor as yourself, you must have the heart of God. And that comes from obeying the Word of God. The more you obey God’s Word, the less you focus on yourself (your wants, goals, and desires), and the more concern you show for the needs and cares of others.
If you will strive to obey these two great commandments, you will live a life of continual joy and peace through Christ Jesus your Savior.
Psalm 119:165 says, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”
Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
There is nothing in this world more precious than peace. And it’s the natural reward of your obedience to God’s commandments.