Love and Live

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

                                                                            (Mark 12:28-31 KJV)

There is only one who can love perfectly. That one is God. Yet, we hear the commandment to love and by the power of the Holy Spirit we are encouraged and empowered to love even our enemies. But, even as the Spirit of Christ dwells within us the old man, Adam, also fights within us to rebel against this law of love. To do it our own way. 

The greatest commandment is to love God. When we truly love Him the second greatest commandment to love our neighbors becomes evident in our lives as well. Love does overcome fear. It overcomes hatred. It enables us to live together in peace. That does not mean we should not speak against evil. Rather out of love we call what is a sin a sin and do not pretend that everything is okay. This is done out of love for them so that they too may know the peace and joy that living in the presence of our loving God and one another can bring.

Love the Lord your God and you neighbor as yourself that you might live life in peace.

God's Peace - Pr. J.