Love God, Love Your Neighbor

Monday, July 27

Read: Mark 12:28-34 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012%3A28-34&version=NIV

Verse: "... Love is kind. It does not envy, ... it is not proud." - I Corinthians 13:4

To the question, "Of all the commandments which is the most important?" Jesus answered "Love the Lord your God ... Love your neighbor." God's order is that we are to put Him first, others next; self last. Sin is the reversal of the order. It is to put ourselves first, our neighbor next and God somewhere in the background. "Our self-centeredness affects all our behavior. We do not find it easy to adjust with people. We tend to either despise them or to envy them. Sometimes we are full of self-pity, at other times of self-esteem, self-will or self-love" writes John Stott. Most quarrels are due to a misunderstanding and the misunderstanding is due to our failure to appreciate the other person's point of view. It is more natural to us to talk than to listen, to argue than to submit. We exaggerate our own "good points" and the other person's "bad points."

How can we resolve conflicts? By replacing the spirit of self-assertion with a spirit of self-sacrifice. This is possible only if we love others as ourselves. "Sin's characteristic is the desire to get, love's characteristic is the desire to give and give and give" writes John Stott. Dear friends, we have to change from "self to unself". But we cannot do it by ourselves. We need our Savior first of all to heal us and then to set us free from our self-centeredness and our self-will. Only when we admit our powerlessness to live righteous lives, we will depend on God and ask for His grace to be unselfish and to love others unconditionally.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, most of the time I put myself first and fail to understand others' plight. I am self-centered. Deliver me Lord from this bondage. Let me love You first and my neighbor next and love myself least. I depend wholly on Your grace, Lord. Amen.