No Commandment Greater Than These!

Jesus is in His final week of life. He knows this. He has predicted it several times at this point and He walks moves in Obediance to the place City where this will happen. He presents Himself to those that will eventually kill Him as He rides in on a donkey. This is the time when His misistry will end and His sacrifice begins.

He spends this week being confronted by those that despise them, He stands for those that love Him. Each day brings Him closer to the the cross yet He still teaches. He still brings the message of Hope to those that will listen. In the Temple He is asked by the Teachers of the Law which is the greatest of the commandments of God. "Of all the Commandments which one is the most important?" They asked. "The most important one, is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

Now Jesus is going to go to the Cross in a few days. He does not have much time left. Like the great commission which is still to be spoken, these words are important. Even if you don't believe Jesus as your Lord and Savior I would like you to ponder these words. "Love your neighbor as yourself." How do you love yourself? Is that indicative of how you love your nieghbor? Do you openly invite them into your life or do you shut them out from it? Do you give to them unconditionally or do you watch as they struggle with their groceries? Do you forgive them when they mess up or do you hold a grudge and ignore them? Chances are that you treat people they way that you feel deep in your heart.

See if you don't feel good, if you don't love the person that God made you then you will find it bvery difficult to appropriately love somone else. Your life experience is faulty so therefore the product of that life is faulty. Garbage inside garbage outside in a sense. Even if Jesus is not Lord and Savior to you now, you have to agree with this commandment. You should also find it very easy to believe that this is one of the most important things that we could do in our lives. Treat others in an appropriate and loving way. You know if you do or you don't. You know when you were not acting out of love to another. you also know how it feels when that happens to you.

Here is the rub! Because we are broken from the way God made us it is impossible to treat everyone with love. We are broken and therefore our love for others will be broken. The examples that we find in life also are broken and therefore we learn other broken ways as we grow. We, without help, are doomed to treat each other poorly. So we need an example, and here where you that don't know Jesus as Lord and Savior will start to say "here he goes again."
See, the first commandment that He gives us in His answer to the teachers of the law start us in the right direction.

"Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul with akll of your mind and with all of your strength." If you are going to learn anything it is best to begin this way. Look to God. Look to our creator and see what He wants us to be. I know that many that don't beileve in Jesus Christ will they believ in God, but do you believe Him to be your example in life. Do you believe that He can show you how to Love yourself so you can love others? If you, say you know God, are you willing to allow Him to show you how to Love yourself? Come on, remember what it feels like not to be loved by your nieghbor. Remember what it feels like to treat someone out of anger. Do you want that to continue?

God created you as He wanted you to be. He either allows things or causees things to happen for a reason. He gave you that crooked nose, and the wirey hair. He gave you the parents that you have and the siblings you endured. He brought you through pain and leaves you in it if necessary. He aslo gave you the joys and the blessings. He has given you the gifts of leadershipor teaching. He allows you to drive a golf ball 278 yards and go home to your beutiful wife and family. He created the world and the stars and the heavens and all things on this earth. Remeber now, you say you believe in God. He created you.

God also gave us an example of His Word, it was Jesus Christ. Some of you may not have read that far into your Bibles yet but Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. He was the embodiment of who and what God is and what He wanted us to be. Remeber, we were created in His image also. So He gave us a mentor and teacher, a raod map to follow. He gave as His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall be saved. Because there is no more perfect example of Love on this earth then Jesus Christ, who represents Gods Love for us. He should be our example.

We therefore can set in our hearts, as failed as they can be, that Jesus Christ is Lord and savior. We trust that in our soul, in our minds and with all our strength and then we begin to change. We change not from our own power, but now from the power of God, of our example Jesus and if you accept Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. The thing that is most important, to love ourselves so we can loves others begins to happen as we see Gods majesty inside of ourselves. As we change we understand why we must show this love to others, because He shows it to us. As we change we stop the things that we don't like within ourselves as we begin to know what they are. As we change we are set free from the bondage of the ill thoughts and baggage that we gathered from a lifetime of negative influence and direction. He loves us, so we can love ourselves, and then love others.

There is an opportunity to be set free from who you think you are and become who you really are. There is an opportunity to walk day to day loving others like you know you want to be loved. That opportunity lies in Loving God, more than you think you do now, in following His commands and by allowing Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior.

If you have those deep pits in your sould that drive you to anger. If you look in the mirror and wonder why you are the way you are. If you have been hurt by somone elses failed attempt at love. Then as you sit here ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior. Ask Him to help change you now, to change your heart, soul and mind to focus on Him and Him alone as God one and only example to us of His Love. Pray that into your life now.

Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit speak to those that only know of you. Speak to those that hurt and can't love. Be with them now in these moments of reflection and set in their hearts the truth, that you are the way. That only through you may they truly come before the father. That you will set the free from thier pain. Lord we know that this important, as these were some of your last words to us, help us all live these two most important commands; to follow you and to love other as ourselves.