Loving Those Who Look Up to You – The Second Great Commandment

Loving Those Who Look Up to You

Matthew 22:37-39

And he said to him, “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 first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Ephesians 6:3

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Love develops the best in those who look up to us.

Among our neighbors whom we are called to love are those who esteem us highly for one reason or another. They may be our children, for example, or people in our circle of friends or associates. They see in us an example to emulate, a lifestyle they would like to see more evident in themselves. We do not set out to achieve such a position in the eyes of others, but it comes to us at times anyway. How shall we love those who look up to us? Paul says we must not provoke them, either by flaunting our position of esteem or power or by ignoring them and making them feel of no account. Rather, Paul says, we must seek to develop the goodness of God in them and all the potential for glorifying God that He has invested in them. Our conversations with them should be encouraging and edifying. We should challenge them to stir up the gifts God has given them and to make the most of every opportunity to serve Him with their lives. We should celebrate their achievements and console them in their defeats, always seeking to help them grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We must challenge them, by example and word, to lay aside the life of sin and press on in the pursuit of God’s Kingdom and righteousness. This is true love, when we seek to exalt and elevate others according to God’s good plan for their lives.

Would those who look up to you consider you to be an encouraging and edifying person? Why or why not?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.