“Love God & Others.” Seriously?!?

A scribe once asked Jesus, “What is the most important commandment of all?” This was Jesus’ reply: “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

It sounds simple enough: Love God. Love others. But for me, it’s not that simple. I personally have a BIG PROBLEM with that command. This is my problem: I can’t love God with all my heart…soul…mind…strength. I can’t love my neighbor as myself. I have a proven track-record of that. I have 39 years of life experience, and there are some things I can confidently put down on my resume:

• Grilling hamburgers – Proficient.
• SEC football – Expert.
• Golf – Pretty Good.
• Cutting straight lines when mowing the grass – Masterful. (I am a professional straight line mower!)
• Loving God with all my heart & soul & mind & strength – FAILURE.
• Loving my neighbor as myself – FAILURE.

There have been times in my life where I loved food more than I loved God. I loved movies more than I loved God. I loved baseball more than I loved God. I loved the praise of men more than I loved God. There have been times in my life where I have been jealous of people, hateful toward people, mean to people, and violently angry with people. I have punched people! Not since I’ve been a pastor, you understand. But still.

So if the most important commandment in the Bible is to love God with everything I am and to love my neighbor as myself and I am terrible at both of them, am I hopeless? Am I doomed to destruction? Yes AND No. Yes, I’m hopeless. Paul once said, “If anyone does not love Jesus, let him be accursed.” I am cursed. I am hopeless. But the answer is also, “No. I’m not hopeless.” If I recognize my lack of love for God and others, confess it, repent, and believe in Jesus Christ, then He will declare me righteous, forgive me of my lovelessness, fill me with His Spirit, and give me the power to love Him & others for the rest of my life.

You see, Jesus came to earth to live in my place. He came to love God with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind, and all his strength. He came to love his neighbor as himself. He lived the life that I’m supposed to live. He also died the death that I deserve. When He was nailed to the cross, He was punished by God for not loving God and loving others.

Wait a minute!!! Why was He punished for not loving God and others? He DID love God and others. Yes. But He was punished as if He had lived my life. He took on the guilt of my idolatry. He bore the guilt of all my hatred, jealousy, envy, and lack of love for my mom & dad, brothers & sisters, spouse, classmates, teammates, & neighbors. God punished Jesus as if He had lived my life. Why? So that if I trust in Jesus’ work on the cross, God will credit my sinful life to Jesus’ account and Jesus’ sinless life to my account. It’s that simple. It’s that clear. It’s called the Great Exchange. I exchange the guilt of my lovelessness for the purity & perfections of Jesus’ love.

Then He gives me a new heart, a new spirit, a new desire, and a new power.

• I now have a heart that beats for God.
• I now have the Spirit of God.
• I now have a desire for the glory of God & the good of others.
• I now have the power to love God & others.

I now love God and others.

Praise Him!