The Greatest Commandment

Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

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.”

 The Greatest Commandment

 

   “Love your neighbor as yourself”.  We hear it all the time.  We see it on bumper stickers and buttons.  But what if we, as Christians, took the Greatest Commandment literally?  What if we, as Christians, put the Greatest Commandment into practice?

 Well, to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’, we must first look at clause ‘a’ of verse 37: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”.  Love, pure love, unconditional love, begins with God.  Once we’ve developed and nurtured our love for God, only then can we love our neighbor as ourselves.

So, now that we’ve developed our love for God, we must now take that same love that God has gifted to us, and gift it to our neighbor.  Who is your neighbor?  That irritating co-worker, that noisy neighbor, that unkempt homeless person, and that unruly child. 

If you had a sign in your front yard, just as Churches do advertising their weekly sermons, what would your yard sign say about you to your ‘neighborhood’?  What are you preaching by your actions, behavior, attitude, the love (or lack of) that you show?

We all have very busy schedules, and family obligations, work, school, recreation, etc.  But in that busy schedule, it is time for us to start adding some ‘God things’.  Things that honor God.  Things that God has called us to do.  What has God called us to do?  It’s simple, LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE!

Gospel recording artist Israel Houghton, wrote a song titled “Love God, Love People”.  In that song he sings:

“I can’t give it, til I live it
Now that my eyes are opened
Teach me how to love
Love God, love people
Love my neighbor as myself
My brother, my sister
Everybody love somebody”

A Great Commitment

to the Great Commandment
will grow a Great Community.

Everybody love somebody and

Let’s get growing!

Self Control - A Fruit of the Spirit

We are living in a time where no one wants to be told ‘no’, and ‘if it feels good, do it’, or as Frank Sinatra so famously put it, ‘I did it my way’.

In order to exhibit self control, we must first define what it is:  The ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult situations.

Often we see the picture of a person with a devil on one shoulder, and an angel on the other.  While the visual may make you chuckle, the concept is very real.  So, ask yourself this question, “Who will I listen to?”

1Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

Wilhelm Hofmann and a team of researchers conducted an online survey of 414 adults, in which they rated their self-control through a series of questions. The results of the survey showed that the more self-control people reported having, the more satisfied they reported being with their lives.

So, how do we exercise self control?  Daily!  Luke 9: 23-25 says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.  What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”

In what areas do we need to exercise self control?

-          Speech / Thoughts

      -          Emotions / Behavior

-          Health

-          Interaction with others

-          Unhealthy/unholy desires

-          Finances

-          (You fill in the blank)

The more we desire God’s will, the easier it is to choose it.