1Timothy 1:5
"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."
The goal of this command is love. A teacher of the law once asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" The Lord said, "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."
First, with all your heart, is to put in effort and attention, to bring pleasure to the other person. People in love are very caring, the other party loves flowers and they will be delivered daily; one will wreck the brain to come up with some stanzas if the other party is in love of poetry. Love needs the effort to nourish, similarly, love the Lord with all your heart is striving to come before God, to gain his pleasure; we'll do what God desires.
Second, with all your soul, is to put in emotions. Like a pair of lovers, if one meets something exciting, the other will naturally dance with joy; if one meets something sad, the other is bound with a heavy heart. Similarly, we share our sadness and joy with God.
Third, with all your mind, means to use our thoughts. True love is not blind, we have to try our best to know God, read His words, let His words fill our thoughts, and inevitably we'll walk in truth.
Fourth, with all your strength, means to love God with all we have, including our time, money, talent and physical strength. Since all things come from God, we should try our best to serve Him, it's no longer "my" time, "my" money, rather it's "God's" time and money.
The second is to love your neighbor as yourself; God's will is not limited to us loving only Him. If we love God, we also must love those people who He loves; we need to love reading the bible, love prayers, we also need to love brothers and sisters. The most powerful testimony of the church is neither about the talk, nor the outward buildings, rather it's the testimony of love. When people see we love one another, naturally they will be drawn before the Lord.
Genuine care sometimes does not need to spend a lot of money and time; one simple card can bring encouragement to others, a brief visit can bring comfort. When you see someone in need, go visit them; do not worry about making conversations, caring needs no big words. When you walk into a family, share the needs with each other, pray together and bless them, this is the best caring in action. Sometimes private intercession is also important, pray and bless in faith, trust the Spirit must work!
Pray with Pastor Tong
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.