Long before Hal David and Burt Bacharach wrote the song “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” Christ honed in on the one force that will change our world forever. One day, a lawyer, wanting to test him, asked him what the greatest commandment in the Law was, and Christ centered on this greatest need of our world:

  And (Christ) said to (the lawyer), ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and Prophets.”                                                                                            Matthew 22:37-40 (NASB)

Love–such a simple concept, yet so hard to attain. I know I have struggled with the call to love, and I’m fairly sure many others have, too. I’ve found that it’s easy to love God in the middle of a glorious worship service, but what about the times when our prayers seem to hit concrete ceilings and nothing changes when we really need change? In those times of our greatest unmet needs, those little niggling voices inside us whisper, “If God really loves you, He would…” If we’re not careful, those little voices can grow into clanging choruses that push us away from God and from the power of His absolute love.

     To love God with everything we have takes focus and determination. Loving God demands that we know who He is because love implies intimacy. We can’t fully love God on the basis of what other people say–our knowledge of Him has to be up close and personal. In a world of discordant voices, we face a challenge in just finding out who God really is and meeting that challenge can be hard work. (Or, in other words, loving God with everything we have is not a piece of cake.)  However, just because a task is hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Christ promised in Matthew 7:7-8 that if we ask, we will receive answers. So, the first step in loving God with everything we have is to find out who He is.

     Just becoming sons of God does not mean we automatically love God. Listen to the words found in Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NKJV) and see both the requirements and the benefits of loving God with everything we have:

  “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days…

Did you catch the words for He is your life? This is why God worked with the Israelites and why Christ was so insistent on the love relationship between God and humans. By loving God with everything we have, by listening to and doing what He says, and by clinging to Him, we are choosing life and blessings. God gave us the freedom of choice–He does not force us to love Him with everything we have–and He asks us to love Him so we can benefit from that love. Any way we look at it, loving God with everything we have may take time and effort, but the outcomes are well worth what we put into this relationship.

     Now comes the sticky part. Even though we may need to put time and effort into loving God, at least we know He loves us; in fact, He loved us first (I John 4:19). However, the second commandment that Christ referred to as he was answering the lawyer’s question in Matthew 22–loving our neighbors as we love ourselves–doesn’t begin with love being given to us, but with us initiating love to our neighbors. And, the toughest part of loving our neighbors as ourselves is that, when we initiate that love, we have no guarantee that it will be reciprocated. Yet, Christ was firm in encouraging believers to love those around them, and he set the ultimate example for us when he died on the cross.

     Over the years, as I have walked with God, I have worked out a few concepts that have helped me overcome my reluctance to love my neighbors. (I’m going to concentrate on one for the rest of this post and will discuss the others over the final two posts of this series.) One of the biggest hindrances to me loving my neighbors has been the judgments I have made about the people around me. I can see why Christ told his followers not to judge others (Matthew 7:1-5)–those judgments definitely impact my ability to love those around me. God has ministered several things to me that have helped me overcome this common tendency.

     First, one day as I was reading in Romans 1 about the things that signified depraved minds in people, I landed on Romans 2:1 which spoke volumes to me. Listen to what that verse says, “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” I saw God’s point in what He was saying to me, “Listen. Of course, people are acting in ‘horrendous’ ways, but that’s none of your business. If you judge them, then you are in danger of falling into the same traps.” At that point, I began considering a new aspect of why some people have problem behaviors. Overall, with the exception of a few mild dramas, I have lived a relatively pain-free life. Many people who have struggled with the behaviors described in Romans 1 have had traumatic lives–how would I be acting if I had lived their lives? Frankly, I would probably be involved in some of the same behaviors. So, who am I to judge anyone when what our behaviors are often the results of circumstances that most of us have no control over? Once I understood this, I asked God to help me to not judge other people. 

     As God has helped me navigate through the multiple opportunities I have to judge people, He has taught several ways to deal with my tendency to judge. Number one, as I just said, is to realize that I am no “angel” myself–I have enough on my hands just keeping my act straight, much less being concerned about anyone else’s. Number two, I pray for people, not that they will stop “sinning,” but that they will know and understand the depth of God’s absolute love for them as individuals. As people discover the depth and the power of God’s love, they will deal with their own destructive behaviors (we all have them) in their own prayer closets. Finally, when I look at people, I don’t see them as stereotypical people, but as individuals who are loved by God. This reality puts every other person in our world on the same level as me–who am I to judge anyone else?

     By not judging other people, I am giving them the same freedom that I have to choose life or death, blessings or cursings. I do not want to be forced to follow anyone else’s ideas of what my relationship with God should look like: therefore, I am not going to push my expectations on anyone else. Now, I know someone may be thinking “But, what if another person does you wrong? What are your expectations then?” Good question and one that we will discuss in my next post…

     As always, please feel free to comment–just be respectful!

     ©2009-20101 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.