WHAT SHOULD WE LOVE MOST?
Matthew 22:34-40
INTRODUCTION: We are all on the journey of life. In all of our lives there are decisions that must be made and questions that must be answered to have a successful life. Some of these questions and decisions will not make a lot of difference in our lives. But there are three questions and three decisions we must all make that will make the greatest impact on the time we have on this earth and also an eternal impact on our lives once we leave this earth. The first question is “What should we love the most?” This first question and the answer to it determines the answer to the other two questions. There is only one correct answer to this question and it was given by a man who claimed to be God! Matthew 22:34-36. The greatest sin we can commit is to ignore the greatest commandment!
- WE ARE TO LOVE THE LORD OUR GOD WITH ALL WE HAVE!
Jesus in His answer quoted what Moses had said 1,500 years earlier: Matthew 22:37-38 with Deuteronomy 6:4-5. This prayer is prayed every day, three times a day by ever devote Jewish man, woman, boy or girl. This kind of love is not a feeling, it is a commitment or a surrender. It is an act of the will to put God above everything and everyone else. Mark 12:30.
2. HOW DOES LOVE FOR GOD WORK ITSELF OUT?
Whatever our heart loves the most our minds will reason out, our emotions will feel out, and our will must act out. God has told us in His Word how this will work itself out in our lives: 1 John 5:1-5. When we choose to love God with all our hearts, we will obey God in all of our lives. Jesus said: John 15:9-17. Every parent knows that love and obedience go together. We will obey our God if we love Him.
3. WE ARE TO LOVE OTHERS UNCONDITIONALLY!
Our love for God vertically will always work itself out with our love horizontally for others: Matthew 22:39. Jesus here takes 613 commandments and boils them all down to just two commandments. These two commandments summarize the Ten Commandments. When we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength we will have no other gods before Him. We will not worship idols. We will not take His Name in vain and we will set aside one day a week to worship Him. When we love others as we love ourselves we will honor our father and mother. We won’t murder, we won’t commit adultery, we won’t steal from others, and we won’t lie about our neighbors and we won’t covet what they have. Did you ever notice that nine of the Ten Commandments are negative? Jesus two commandments are both positive. Can you imagine what this world would be like if we all loved our neighbor as we love ourselves? Only the God Who is love can give you the love for God and others that you ought to have! That can only come through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Real living is only found in loving God unconditionally and others unconditionally. So, you and I must make the choice: “What lord are we going to love?” When we choose to love the right Lord , with His love and to love others as ourselves our lives will never be the same! Romans 5:1-5.