Someone asked me once what the Law of Christ actually is. Not the theology. The short version.
Four loves. Today, the first three.
Love God.
A lawyer tried to trap Jesus with a question about the greatest commandment. Jesus went straight to the heart: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest. Everything else grows out of it. (Matthew 22:37)
Love your neighbor.
Then, without being asked, He gave the second and said it was just like the first. Love the person next to you the way you already love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two, He said. Years later Paul said the same from his side: the whole law is fulfilled in this one command. (Matthew 22:39–40; Galatians 5:14)
Love your enemies.
Jesus actually spoke this one before the others, early on, on a hillside to people living under Roman boots. Love them. Pray for them. The very ones who hurt you. It sits third only because Jesus ranked the first two Himself and saved the last for His final word. (Matthew 5:44)
Which of these three is hardest for you right now?
On Thursday: the fourth love, the one Jesus called new.
In His grace,
Bruce
Grace. Always grace.
Bruce Mitchell is a Christ-follower, loved by grace and learning to love one another as He commanded. He studied at Biola University and Dallas Theological Seminary, spent most of his working life as an accountant, and founded Agapao Allelon Ministries to share the love of Jesus with anyone looking for grace.
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“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)