Loving God and Others

I’m not currently facing any specific challenges. Throughout our lives, we can face all kinds of challenges; relationships, physical health, finances, career, mental wellbeing and so on. It’s not that everything is perfect. But things are going reasonably well.

Yet, we mustn’t forget the challenge that Jesus puts to us – the two greatest commandments which we can regard as a summary of all the others. These weren’t new. Jesus was referencing the Old Testament:

Matthew 22:34-40
³⁴ Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So, how am I facing this challenge? I fail everyday, which is why I need a Saviour. The same Jesus who repeated these two commandments offers salvation to all who repent and believe in him. One of my favourite parables of Jesus is the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:9-14
⁹ He also spoke this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed by himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men: extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

God wants us to be humble, to acknowledge that we fail. Yet, the fact the we can be forgiven shouldn’t stop us from wanting to love God and others. Reading the Bible and studying and singing hymns helps me to love God. I should aim to love him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. I think that I will in heaven, but down here, I’ll always fall short. But I don’t allow that to discourage me. I’ll never play the guitar like Eric Clapton, but it doesn’t stop me from practicing every day.

And what about loving others? Again, I try. And I should have a policy of loving others. I plainly love some more than others, but I should aim to love everyone. Maybe they don’t deserve to be loved, but do I deserve to be loved? I’m dependant on God’s mercy and forgiveness. So try to follow these words in the Lord’s prayer:

Matthew 6:12-14
¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. ¹⁴ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

I’m glad to be living at a time and place where people generally encourage love, even outside of Christian circles. Love was a big theme in the 1960s, even if it fell short of the kind of love that Jesus calls us to:

And here are two examples of love-themed hymns: