This is NOT an option!

If someone were to ask you, “What’s the most important command in the Bible?” what would you answer?  Would you pick one of the Ten Commandments?  Or one of the Beatitudes that Jesus gave in His famous Sermon on the Mount?

One day, someone asked Jesus that very question.  Here is His answer:

“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Does it surprise you that Jesus placed such a high priority on love?  It shouldn’t amaze us because He demonstrated His love so clearly to us by dying for us.

In fact, in those verses, Jesus taught that all the other commandments in the Bible are related to love.  We don’t steal because we love others and don’t want to hurt them.  We don’t lie because we love others so much that we want to be forthcoming with them.  And of course, we don’t want to break any of God’s laws because we love Him so much.

Therefore, we must take the command of Jesus to love very seriously.  Love for God first, then for others, should underlie our motivation in all we do.  We should love God and others just like God loves us—unconditionally.

But how can we do this?  I’ll have to admit that I’ve met some prickly people who I’d prefer to avoid.  I have had people in my life who have opposed me and what I stand for and done this in hurtful ways.  Believe me, I found it almost impossible to love some people!

On the other hand, I have found a resource that allows me to love even my enemies.  He is the Holy Spirit.  Paul writes, “We know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love” (Romans 5:5).  I don’t have to love these people!  The Holy Spirit has come to love them through me!  That means that I don’t have to depend on myself to love—I can depend on the Holy Spirit to do it through me.  That’s the essence of loving by faith.

This spiritual principle is so freeing to me.  God loves me; I love Him back.  He produces love in my heart, which I spread to other people.  And Jesus even gives me a measure to tell if I’m displaying enough love.  He said, “I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you” (John 15:12).  Just think of how much love that is! He’s going to pour into my life so that I can in return love others. 

It is not an option to love God but not to love others.  Love Him with all your heart and then let Him fill you to overflowing with love for others!

By Vonette Bright

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