The Greatest Commandment

Looking at Matthew 22: 36-40, we are made to understand that loving God is the first greatest commandment. This is followed by loving our neighbors as ourselves make it the second greatest commandment. Observing the common word “Love”, used in both of the greatest commandments, we can infer that this 4 letter word holds A LOT of weight. It’s makes sense that it does. The entire world was created out of love. Each and every being that walks this Earth was created out of love. My gracious Savior Jesus Christ died on the cross out of love. Love literally runs through our veins. Even when we don’t deserve it, even when we push our Father away, He still finds a way to pour an overflow over our lives whether we chose to acknowledge it or not. So why is it so hard to fully abide in these commandments?

Understanding that God is love is a big hurdle to jump over. I mean, how could a perfect God love someone like me; so damaged, so sinful, so disobident, so imperfect. Romans 8:35 gives us the answer we need: NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD. Even with reading that, sometimes there is still a slimmer of doubt in our minds. Don’t give the enemy room to derail us from the truth. His Word is the living truth and His Word is final. Our finite minds tend to forget that God sees beyond our past and beyond our sins. God sees the light He embedded into each and every one of us. He sees the potential carefully crafted and meticulously placed directing us towards prosperity. He sees the good even when all we see is bad. There’s no moving forward until we accept that love. Trust me, I know it’s hard. An unconditional love given to us from the Almighty Father can seem like a fantasy, especially when we’ve never been exposed to a real, true love. That’s what we have to understand. God’s love cant be explained. God’s love can’t compare to anyone else’s. God’s love for us has been there since the beginning of time, His love is still present today, and His love is everlasting and out shadows eternity. Accepting and understanding His love causes us to be mighty forces. His love causes us to be formidable and aids us in overcoming what we think are our biggest battles; including loving ourselves. Now that’s the bigger battle. 20 years of living on this Earth and I have yet to fully love myself. So crippled with society’s standards of beauty and perfection, I lost sight of the beauty the Lord bestowed upon me. He created us in uniqueness, complexity, eccentricity, all for our own purpose and our own good. To be stuck in society’s views drives us away from everything He has in store for us and allows for the enemy to create a playground in our minds.

This year we are going into combat with everything the enemy has convinced we are that doesn’t align with the Creator’s Word. This year we are accepting God‘s love, and loving ourselves so we can love others. The only path to neighborly love is loving ourselves. Although it might be a little bit of a struggle breaking down walls of insecurity and dissatisfaction with ourselves, the great love of God will see us through. I don’t know about y’all but I need God’s love to get through this world and get to the place we are destined to dwell in. Join me, it won’t be that bad. Nothing My God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit hasn’t seen and can help us through.