Is All that Matters “Loving God”?
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Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-38 “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.” There is a sense in which everything Christians do is based upon that command. Jesus said that all the law and the prophets hang on the commands to love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:40). This was reiterated by Paul in Galatians 5:14 where he states, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” So, what does it mean to love God?
For someone to fail to explain what it means to love God, is to ignore a large portion of the teaching of scripture. The Bible has more to say about what it means to love than merely “to love.” One must eventually focus the discussion to the question of what it means to love God and neighbor. This is not up to one’s subjective beliefs. John said in 1 John 5:2-3 “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.” We cannot love God without keeping His commandments. We cannot love our neighbor without keeping God’s commandments.
Obedience to God’s word is tied directly to the concept of what it means to love God. In John 14:15 Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” and in John 15:10, Jesus turns it around and says, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” So in order to love God we must keep God’s commandments, and when we keep God’s commandments we are showing that we love God. Paul taught that this meant obeying the specifics of God’s word in Romans 12:9-21 and in Romans 13:8-10. These two passages contain significant details about what it means to love God and others.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:9-11).
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10).
The real problem is not that people misunderstand the need for love; the problem is that they disassociate love from any concept of obedience. That is what it means to truly love God and one another.