Loving God, loving people and loving life – Matthew 22:36-40
The very essence of life is to love God, love oneself and to love others. According to Matthew 22:36-40 [TLB] ‘to love God and to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself’ is the first, greatest and second most important commandment. Upon which all the demands of the prophets and commandments become fulfilled if we obey the commands.Our love for God impacts on every aspect of our lives, family, marriage, relationship, business, children, etc. and it compels us to love others just as much as we love ourselves.
Therefore, we should be excited to talk to others about God’s love and to be genuinely concerned about their wellbeing by reaching out and helping them whichever way we can. Philippians 2:3 also admonishes us “not to be selfish and not to just live to make a good impression on others but to be humble, thinking of others better than ourselves. It says don’t just think about your affairs but be interested in others too and in what they are doing.
‘Loving God, Loving people and Loving you’ can take the form of a rotating wheel or cycle. In the business world, ‘cycles’ are important concepts as it informs the process by which a product or a service function effectively. As believers, ‘Loving God, Loving people and Loving you cycle’ is what forms the basis of our lifestyle, and if we ignore one of the parties can be sure it will impact on the others.
Loving yourself stems from knowing your identity in Christ. An in-depth understanding of who you are in Christ sets the foundation right for you to love others too. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states that whosoever is in Christ has become a new person, the old l
ife is gone, and a new life has begun. There’s a famous saying ‘that you cannot give what you don’t have’ this, therefore, means that to love others like yourself, you have come to experience the freedom that is in Christ. Which means that you have come to a place where the word of God is central to your life and mirrors everything that you do such that your overflow will be to love people around you genuinely.
Jesus demonstrated love by his compassion and genui
ne love and care for people. Jesus unconditional love and sacrifice for humanity as evidenced in John 3:16 was possible because Jesus knew His Father loved him (Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 17:5). Therefore, for us to truly love ourselves and extend that love to others we have to be guided by Rom
an 8:1 -2 which also emphasise our identity and the freedom we have in Christ!
Enjoying everyday life means walking in the VICTORY WE HAVE IN CHRIST despite the challenges we may face. The knowledge of the truth of God’s word we believe and apply in our everyday situations allows us to meet each day’s challenges confidently knowing we have God on our side and as such we can live Victoriously!
