Hello Adelphoi, thank you for always coming here to read. It, however, gives me more joy to know that you’re being changed by the posts here. God bless you.
About two weeks ago, I wrote to you about God’s love and I said at the end of it that I would write to you about our love….Here it is.
You see, God doesn’t leave us to define life and as you probably already know, I explained that in one of my posts. For us, He defines all things in Christ. So, what we do is to discover them in Christ.
Let me say this in passing. Discoveries or definitions outside Christ are dangerous and will lead astray no matter how noble.
So in the matter of love, that is God’s love for us and our love for Him and our neighbour, He doesn’t leave us to guess our way around it.
You do not speak of the love of God from your definition of it. You have to know what the Love of God is from His own perspective. The same goes for the love He’s commanded you to have for Him.
About our love…
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, He did us one better. He not only told us the greatest, he told us the one that follows and they both had to do with us loving.
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” This is the first and great commandment.
God didn’t give us the liberty of choosing how we would prefer to express our love to Him. Oh! for I know, that if we all were given the chance to choose how to love God, no one would have chosen the very way God predetermined for us to love Him.
He taught us through John’s writings that it is in obeying every word of God that you show your love.
Then He said “…the second is like the first. Love your neighbour as yourself”
Even this, God didn’t leave us to determine how it should be done. This is where I want to dwell. This is my lesson to you today.
It is in how we ought to love God and one another that we often become creative. We think of ways to show our neighbours that we love them. The church encourages different ways to express love to one another so much that we shut our eyes to what is good and turn to evil because we want to make sure our neighbour knows that we love them.
We focus our attention on how our neighbours feel about what we’ll do as the measure of our love for them. So anything that will make them feel bad, we don’t do because “Jesus said to love our neighbours“.
Wrong my friend!!
1 John 5:2-3 (KJV)
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
Listen Adelphoi, there’s just one way to love God and the same way it is to love your neighbour. Obey God’s laws!
It may not feel good. It may make your neighbour talk evil about you. It may make you the “black sheep” of the office. It may make you unpopular in school. Your roommate may even treat you like dunk. It may get you a name of mockery but obeying God’s laws is the only way to truly love your neighbour.
Oh praise God for this light!!!
It is love to refuse a man who is lazy food because it is the word of God. Of course this is not going to make everyone smile. It’ll even hurt you but God says this is how to love your neighbour, by obeying my word.
This is not a cover for selfish people who don’t want to share.
It is love to give your last to your neighbour. It is love to go all out for them not trying to prove anything but because you know His word and what He calls love. In all, love for neighbour is expressed in our obedience to God.
Listen, God will judge by the standard of His word. His word will go into your thoughts and intents and judge it. Why you did what you did. I may give you food but not because you’re hungry but because I’m trying to sow a seed.
Brethren, the spirit of God is gotten by hiding his word in your heart and when you do and keep on doing that, you’ll love God and love people from the same cistern… The pure cistern. Don’t get creative. Don’t be overly emotional.
Let me remind you of this scripture to end this passage of scriptures.
Psalms 119:19 (KJV)
“I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.”
Remember, in all things, you love.
God bless you
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Ancient Word 