The Great Commandment

Here’s another old post that I found. It seemed fitting to save it for Valentine’s Day! It also fits nicely with our theme for the Her Portion podcast (Apple or Spotify) this month of loving one another and gives you a little preview of my episode. 🙂

Originally published in February 2009.

Mark 12:28-31

²⁸ 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?

²⁹ And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

³⁰ 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.

³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Upon hearing the words, the Great Commandment, most of us know that it has to do with love. Jesus tells the scribes that the first commandment is to “love thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength…” Perhaps the more difficult part of that commandment comes next when Jesus says, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…”

In February, we celebrate love on Valentine’s Day. We demonstrate our love for others with gifts of valentines, candy, and flowers. Picture yourself strolling through the Valentine’s displays looking for a cute little gift for that special someone, whether it is a romantic someone, a best friend, or your own children. You find the perfect gift, the one that you know they will enjoy the most, and then you anxiously wait to give it to them. Now picture yourself shopping not for a loved one, but someone you struggle to love. How does the picture change? I know if I am honest, I will admit that the excitement and joy I felt fades away.

While God may not be calling us to buy Valentine’s gifts for those we struggle to love, He is calling us to love them. We are to love them even when—

• we don’t want to;
• we don’t feel like it;
• we get nothing obvious in return;
• we think they don’t deserve it;
• we think they’re not worth it;
• they don’t even know it;
• it seems to make no difference.

In Ephesians 5:2, God commands us to “…walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.”

To “walk” is to progress, to live. God calls us to live love as Christ did. Christ’s love was a sacrificial love, and He asks the same from us. As God showed me this, at first I did not understand. What does it mean to love others sacrificially? What do I have to sacrifice? The short answer is – self! For me, this includes my comfort…and my pride. It is uncomfortable to love someone you aren’t immediately drawn to or someone you feel you have little in common with. It takes humility to love someone who has wronged you in the past or does nothing to reciprocate that love.

How can we accomplish this call to love sacrificially? It is certainly not natural for any of us, and we cannot do it in our own strength. Fortunately, God has provided a way for us to love others as He intends.

We find this in Romans 5:5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

If we have accepted Christ as our Savior, the Holy Ghost dwells within us. Then the love of God is shed abroad—poured out—in our hearts by the Holy Ghost and His love can be poured out to those around us. I say can be intentionally. Even though God has given us His endless supply of love to share with others, we must first be willing to let it spill over. We must be willing to love sacrificially, to see each person as Christ sees them. This is especially important when dealing with unbelievers. If they can’t see the love of God in us, where are they going to see it?

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, let’s consider our call to love others sacrificially. There is probably someone you struggle to love that the Lord has brought to mind as you’ve read this article. Will you be willing to let God’s love spill over to them?