Love God; Love People: The Greatest Commandment (Part 1 Of 3) Series

Love God; Love People: The Greatest Commandment

Children were asked what love means:

"Love is like an avalanche where you have to run for your life." John age 9

"When a person gets kissed for the first time, they fall down and don't get up for an hour." Wendy age 8

"It gives me a headache to think about that stuff. I'm just a kid. I don't need that kind of trouble." Kenny age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend you hate." Nikka, age 8

The Bible is packed full of love, and conveniently for us, God is Love. So we have an optimal opportunity here to learn and be encouraged by the very source of love as we learn from the scriptures that He gave to us.

"Hearing that Jesus had silenced Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"" Matthew 22:34-36

Jesus silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees decide to send in one of their philosophical champions with a question to derail Jesus. This lawyer , an expert in Jewish, comes to Jesus and asks him, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

God is Love

Same characteristics that describe God, describe His love:

Perfect, Unconditional, Eternal God, Sacrificial, Patient, Kind, Humble, Forgiving, Pure Seeks the best for others,

Faithful, Trustworthy, Persevering.

No other source of love but God.

Not culture, not Hollywood, not art, not relationships.

We learn to love God and others when we experience God's love in our life.

10 Commandments - Love God. Love each other. We can't possibly love God or others without the experience of God's love for us.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for out sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1John 4:7-12

Forgiveness, sacrifice, faithfulness, service...

Love is the identifying characteristic of our faith in Jesus

Lord, lord, depart from me, I never knew you.

Don't claim to love God and then exalt yourself as God.

Stop saying you love Jesus and start loving Him.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13.35

Real love = real actions. Pharisees, claim but no action.

Love never fails, always honors God and seeks the best for others.

Too many Christians settle for convenient counterfeit love.

Real love washes feet instead of gossiping, carrying grudges

Real love feeds, clothes, visits, instead of being a consumer.

Real love sacrifices self, rather than exalting self.