Relationships Pt. One
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
-Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)
We are called to place our highest value on relationships and prioritize the health of our hearts. Jesus tells a teacher of the law that the whole law can be summed up in two commandments: love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Here are four questions we can ask ourselves to assess whether we love God and love others:
Do I have unbroken fellowship with others as God has unbroken fellowship with me?
Am I faithful to forgive others as God is faithful to forgive me?
Do I accept others as God accepts me?
Am I able to sacrifice for others as Christ sacrificed for me?
The Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart flow the issues of life. We have a responsibility to steward the emotional health of our hearts. While culture says showing emotions is weak, our feelings actually make us human. In fact, Jesus experienced anger and sorrow along with many other emotions.
However, it is important to remember that love is an action, not a feeling. We are called to show love even when we don’t feel like loving someone. The Holy Spirit is the bridge that connects our heads to our hearts. As we allow Him to be that bridge, He heals us and helps us forgive.
We can’t love in our own strength. But with God’s help, we can love as Jesus did. Jesus worked on His heart until the very end of His life when He prayed to the Father, “Forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).”
As we allow the Holy Spirit to be the bridge, God will heal us. Because of Jesus, we have an example, a firm foundation, a higher purpose, and supernatural power working together to empower us to love God and others.
This week, pray and ask the Holy Spirit, “Examine my heart.”
