The Non-Optional Principle
“Which is the great commandment in the law?” That question was asked of Jesus one day by a lawyer. The Lord’s response in Matthew 22:37-40 provides the basis for right relationships with God and others.
He said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (v. 37) Our primary call is to focus our heart and mind, even our total being on the One who gave us the breath of life. Every ounce of energy is to be employed in loving God. Jesus knows the human heart, that it is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9) So, He immediately addressed our obligation to others. Just in case we are tempted to say we love God as we should, yet continue to have broken relationships with others, the Lord said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (v. 39) The very same regard we have for ourselves is to be the standard we use in loving others. He went on to declare that all that God has given us through the law and the prophets flows from these two commandments. In fact, everything else depends on them: “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (v. 40) Christians who have ill feelings toward and broken relationships with other believers are damaging the cause of Christ. In John 13:34-35, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” The love that Jesus demonstrated was unconditional, selfless love—dying to self in order to express love to other Christians. This kind of love will touch a lost world. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Sacrificial love is the non-optional principle.
Sin cera, Erik
Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.