“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.’” Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV) (Context: Matthew 22:34-40)
This passage could be considered one of the fundamentals of the faith, but the more I try to wrap my head around it, the more convicting it becomes. I might be able to convince myself that I could (momentarily) love the Lord with all my heart, though I have less of a context for how to love Him with all my soul. A person’s spouse may be referred to as a “soul” partner, but if my love for my spouse is supposed to be the next best reflection of what godly soul-love looks like, then I am a pathetic indeed.
The most troubling is the requirement of loving with all my mind. I know exactly how, where, and when I distribute my attention and am all too aware of how I do not pour out my mind to the Lord.
The greatest commandment succinctly proclaims the terrifying depth of my sin nature and the second commandment does nothing to bolster my self-confidence. Because sin involves disobedience to these commandments, I can make a strong argument that I am in a constant state of sin. Only when I begin to understand the depth and pervasiveness of this sin do I begin to find myself in awe of Jesus and the kind of sacrifice He made.
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:3-5 (NIV)
ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!
Justin Smith
In his own words: “Justin joined Servants with Nikki in 2011 and is currently serving as a lector. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion… oops, no, that was Benaiah (2 Samuel 23:20).”