The Greatest Verb

Matthew 22: 34-40

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the 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?’
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.’ ”
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When you say you “love” someone, do you think about what that really means?  For this discussion, I’m going to leave out the whole potential commentary on how the word “love” has come to mean so many things besides its original intent “I love that shirt…I love this flavor of potato chip…etc. etc.”.

Specifically, when Jesus tells us what we should do as it relates to God, what does He mean?  He does not tell us to worship, to fear, to make sacrifices or bow down to God.  He tells us to love God.  There is a direction of intention that Jesus us tells us to exhibit.  Remember that when Jesus tells us this, He is not just repeating something someone else said.  He is the Word.

Love, as Jesus describes it, is an action; a verb.  He is not asking us to “feel” a certain way.  Love is a choice; it is something we do, not a squishy feeling inside.  When we truly love God and one another, we make decisions and take action to show that love.  Feeling is not enough; it is only one part of the equation.  To complete it, we must show it by who we are every day.

Lord God, 

We forget that loving You and loving our neighbors is more than just having caring, respectful and helpful feelings.  The example You gave, by taking action to send Your Son to us, is the highest form of love we could ever see. 

In all the things we do each day, give us a heart for loving You…by shining the light of Christ to others, and for loving others…by actively serving them with joy. 

We thank you for loving us, not as an intangible feeling, but by giving us Your grace and mercy, by never turning your back on us, and by letting us see the ways You love us, if we but only open our eyes. 

We ask and offer these things in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ, 

Amen.