Making Amends – First and Great Commandment

The great and first commandment

Matthew 22.37, 38

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.”

1 John 4.7

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Love those whom God loves.

If we love God we will show that love by loving those He loves. He loves His own, those for whom He died. He loves them so much that He laid down His life for them, poured out His Spirit upon them, speaks His Word daily to them, upholds them and all their concerns by His Word of power, and is even now preparing a place for them to dwell with Him forever. And for us, too, of course. But the point is, since this is how much Jesus loves our fellow believers, ought we not to nurture such aggressive love for them as well, just to show how much we love the Lord? John says Yes. We cannot be a sourpuss, a backbiter, a gossip, or a Grinch to our fellow believers without throwing away some of the love we have for God. It grieves Him to see His children at odds. As far as in us lies, let us take away every obstacle to loving our fellow believers. Thus we will prove our love for God.

Is there anyone right now with whom you need to make some amends or clear up a matter? What does love for God require of you?

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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.