Love (Mark 12:28-34)
Mankind repeatedly fails to love God because they yield to the inner desire to love themselves. The history of the Old Testament shows this clearly. If we do not want to repeat the same failures, we need to discover mankind’s self-centeredness as shown in the Bible and overcome it.
1. Jesus did not contradict Moses
The teachers of the Law asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus 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! And love your neighbor as yourself!” The teachers of the Law were truly amazed at this reply. This is because they expected Jesus to have a system of teaching that rejected Moses, but they discovered they were mistaken.
2. Love as taught by the Law
When the Law of Moses emphasizes obedience, it means you should show love for God. God created the world, gave His life to save sinners, and blesses us. A God like this should accept our love – a love which ignites all our devotion, emotions, will and actions. Moreover, God wants us to love our brothers and sisters. This is how He hopes that we express and prove our love for Him.
3. Jesus makes love possible
The Lord gave us the command to love each other. He did not suddenly introduce something new, but He emphasized what was there since old times. No matter how much we love each other, the Lord knows that our ability is limited. But when we make the effort to love our brothers and sisters, the Lord said He would consider that eagerness as proof of our love for Him. Let’s love God with the love we receive from Him. Let’s show the sincerity of this love by loving our brothers and sisters.
December 5, 2021
Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim