Matthew 22:34-40 An Ethical Question

The Pharisees were likely overjoyed with the way Jesus embarrassed the Sadducees, their enemies, even though they wanted to kill Him, too.  One Pharisee, though, showed respect for Jesus and asked Him a question:  "Which is the greatest commandment?"  Jewish scribes had been debating this for centuries, my commentary said.

Jesus answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind ... And the second command is like the first:  'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'"

My commentary said, "If we have a right relationship with God, we will have no problems with His commandments.  Love is the basis for obedience."

There's that little word 'all' in those verses, and I wonder how often we try to hedge with it or ignore it.  Perhaps we decide to love God with 95% of our hearts, or 92% of our minds.  Perhaps there are commandments that we might have problems with.  Perhaps we have trouble keeping them.  To me, we can have no problems with His commandments (we agree that they are right), yet in our sin, we break them, fully knowing we are wrong, not the commandments.  That becomes a place where our relationship with God suffers, and as it said, "Love is the basis for obedience."  We have to love Him more than we love ourselves.  Ronnie Hill, my friend who is a youth evangelist, always said 95% obedience = 100% disobedience.

Father, help me to continue to have that kind of love for You.  When I'm tempted to love myself more, remind me of where that's gotten me in the past.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford