Dec 21, 2020
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First Light 12/11/20-The Order of Love
The Order of Love
Teacher, what is
the greatest commandment? Jesus said "you shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, soul and mind. The second is, you shall
love your neighbor as yourself".
Matthew 22:36-37
Probably every believer knows that to "love God and love your
neighbor" is the chief of all commands. Why then does it so seldom
happen? I don't believe that it is because people don't want to
obey Him. I believe that people sincerely wish they could. Simply
put, people don't know how. Most don't understand the order that
love must proceed in. So, folks try to love other people in human
effort and find it more difficult than they expected! But, in order
for this great command to be fulfilled in the actual everyday nitty
gritty of life it must follow a Divine order. It does not start
with loving God, or people. If you attempt to start there you will
always fail, or you will substitute shallow human love instead of
the real deal which is the "God kind of love". It all begins with
His love. We must first experience His love touching our hearts by
His Spirit. There is no other way to love unless it begins with His
Spirit. Once I have experienced His love for me at heart level in
the Spirit, then it becomes so easy and natural to love Him in
return. "We love Him because He first loved us". Who according to
this scripture loves first? He does. Even after I have felt His
love in the Spirit and loved Him in response it is still not time
to "love thy neighbor". Who is next in Biblical order? Loving
myself with Divine love must come next. Notice in scripture I
cannot "love my neighbor as I love myself" until I first "love
myself". To many believers that have been religiously brainwashed
this sounds self-centered. But I ask you, does the Bible not say
that I can't love people until I have a healthy God given love for
myself? Often the reason that people are so unloving is that they
don't really think much of themselves. Once again, we see the
Divine order of walking in love which should be the foremost goal
of every child of God. First, I taste God's great love for me
through His Spirit, then I begin to return that love to Him. Then
after I have experienced His compassion for me, I begin to love me
the way that He does. Then, and only then can I begin to "love my
neighbor as myself". A person that has been baptized in Christ'
love has no trouble sharing that love as an overflow of their
experience. To "try" to love is always dead religion heaping
an impossible task on a weary soul. To "receive" His love by
His Spirit and then pour it out is another of His amazing
graces that we enjoy!
Jesus, lover of my soul, baptize me in your loving Spirit as I
fellowship with you! Love people through me by your
Spirit!
E
Dietrich Bonhoeffer from "The Cost of Discipleship"
p 265 “The value of the secular calling for the Christian is
that it provides an opportunity of living the Christian life with
the support of Gods grace, and of engaging more vigorously in the
assault on the world and everything that it stands for.”
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