Day 2250 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


Matthew 22:39 NIV

Sticking with our topic of getting back to the basics of our faith. Yesterday we discussed what Christ calls the first and greatest commandment: to love God with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds. Today is the second part of that message: to love others. So you see, despite all the rules and regulations, the expectations and the religious side of things, our faith is built upon love!

It's amazing how quickly that idea gets lost behind other stuff. As we've talked about a lot in these posts, we've gotten all caught up in religion. We've gotten mixed up in worldly things that people have come up with. We've taken something that is seriously simple and made it nearly impossible. All of these man-made rules do nothing but distract us from the main goal of our faith.

If we don't love others then it doesn't matter what we do, what we look like, what we wear, how well we speak, or anything else. If love isn't the reason behind what we do then what we do doesn't really matter. We can get everything right, check all the boxes, meet all the requirements, and adhere to all the rules. But if we're doing it solely to look good or convince ourselves that we're doing good enough then we're completely missing the point!

We have to shove all the worldly things aside and get back to loving others. All the rules that matter will be covered if we love others. All the boxes will be checked if we check off the one that calls us to love like Jesus does. It doesn't need to be hard. It doesn't need to be complicated. Be kind! Aim for understanding rather than judgement. Share respect instead of resentment. Think of ways to help one another and I promise it will make a difference.

We've been taught to see the differences. We've been convinced to follow the wrong priorities. We've been led to believe that we can earn God's salvation if we do everything right. But it's so much easier than that. The truth is that we are all made in the image of God. We're all brothers and sisters trying our best to get through life the best we can. So let's help one another. Let's find ways to love and encourage those around us. Again, love and kindness will do more than making sure we get everything else perfect.

Comments

  1. marcieApril 22, 2021 at 8:55 AM

    Amen. He loves us all so we should to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KyleApril 28, 2021 at 3:46 PM

      Yep! Makes it a lot easier that way. Just love everyone and not waste the time figuring out who deserves it!

      Delete

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