Matthew 22:37-40
"Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.""
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If someone asks you the two greatest commandments, what would you say? Well Jesus reclassified the 10 commandments into 2 categories that all the Law and Prophets hang on. The two categories are simply Love God and Love Others. The first 4 commandments cover loving God and the last 6 commandments instruct us on how to love others. And if you notice the closing line of these devotions, this is the message of the first two points!
As I mentioned yesterday, we attended a Catholic service here in Bangalore, and the Father had a nice simple straight forward message of "Love Your Neighbor". He of course described the love that we are called to have for others, as the same Agape love that Jesus has for us. Typically you will see Agape defined as Sacrificial love, but the Father described Agape love as "altruistic" - which I think fits also. Essentially it is a focused love for others that is out of selflessness and disregard for your own needs.
He listed off the word for agape love in all the local languages such as: Hindi, Kannada, Teligue, Tamil, and Konkani. He made the point that we should love others regardless of country, culture, creed, color or class (which is a big thing in India). He also said that Jesus does not differentiate between these classifications and of course neither should we.
The closing hymn of the service we sang had a line that said "God is passionately busy loving you and me. Doesn't it make you feel significant and deeply loved when God's love for us is described as his passion? What are you busily passionate about? Do you think we can become so full of agape love that we could be busy with a passionate love for all others?
...and don't forget to love God with all your heart, love others as He does, and use every minute for His will and to His glory!
Family Update: I had a very nice weekend in India and am ready for our final two work days here and then anxious to come back home. If you would like to see some of what we have been doing so far, please see my India April 2013 Flickr folder here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/therudys/sets/72157633362761924/
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