The first and most important commandment as stated in the bible, we see that it is to love God (Matthew 22:36-37). In fact, God is all about love (1 John 4:8). God wants us to love him, but how? Is worshipping and praying enough? [”Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:36-37] [Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. -1 John 4:8] No, definitely not. So what should we do? The answer is found in Matthew 25: 34-40: · Give the hungry something to eat · Give the thirsty something to drink · Give the unclothed something to wear · Give the sick the care they need · Give the prisoners and hopeless hope [“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Matthew 25: 34-40] This is just a small list of what we can do to love God. In essence, to love God is to love people. If you claim to love God but does not care for others, he is a liar (1 John 4:20). [Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. – 1 John 4:20] The love we have for others also show testimony to the kind of faith we have of/in God. Is it a dead and demonic faith? Or is it a true and alive one? Faith is a verb; faith and actions come together. I used to make my mom do this: I raise my left hand and she says “信仰!”, and I raise my right hand and she says “行动!”. It is a simple reminder for me and her that faith and works must work together. [What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” – James 2:14-19] Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. Why is love for others that important? Because when we are in a conflict, people with Christ love will take a step back and be at the losing end willingly. What does God want us to do when we are in a conflict? We see the answer in Luke 6: · 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. · 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. · If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. · 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. · 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. The rationale is this: · 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 · But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Tough thing to do, and I struggle with it everyday. To give a very explicit (and lame) example: I am very used to living on my own. I don’t like other people touching my things, except if they are my good friends. I don’t really like sharing, except for food or snacks. And to think I have to share during exchange. Yes, selfish to the max, but I’m battling this! I told them I don’t want to share the (expensive) olive oil that Clarence bought for me. And other condiments that we use often, because it makes no sense to share something that runs out soon right! And when I discover that the olive oil is still disappearing (maybe around 3-5ml only), I get all cranky and want to put my stuff into my corner so that they would know that “Hey, I don’t want to share, get it!” Just now, I placed the olive oil and black pepper from the common shelf into my own kitchen shelf 3 times, all while typing this post. Ultimately, I put it back into the common shelf. If they want to use it, go ahead. It’s absurd if I type this post, put on my blog, but at the other end of the line, I’m shelving my stuff away from people. Afterall, it’s the sick who needs the physician, not the healthy (Mark 2:17), so bear with my imperfections, friends!
