"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 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. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets" (Matt 22:36-40).To which we should all say a hearty "Amen!" The questioner was a lawyer from the Pharisees, and even he agreed that Jesus was right (Mark 12:32). We all get that. Have you ever noticed, however, the apparent contradiction in these commands? Seriously ... think about it.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart ..." Jesus says that your entire heart should be spent on loving God. So ... what's left for your neighbor (or you)? See the problem? If we are commanded to devote everything to loving God, how is it remotely possible that we could also love ourselves or our neighbors?
I said that this is an apparent contradiction. I think, in resolving this contradiction, we will find a basis for the entire Christian life that we may or may not have missed. So this isn't merely an exercise. It's outcome is important.
The answer to this dilemma is suggested in one of David's psalms. "I say to the LORD, 'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.' As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight" (Psa 16:2-3). Here David indicates that in God alone there is "good". The only good we have is in God. Therefore, David delights in the saints. All good is in the Lord, and that is the reason that David rejoices in the saints.
You see, in this scenario "the great commandment" is the motivation and power behind "the second". It is in an absolute and complete devotion to God that we can find an overflow that allows us to love our neighbors. It is in the perfect love for God and His perfect love for us that we can have so much to give to others. I'm not scrambling for myself. I'm not fighting to be loved. I'm not "loving myself" and finding too little left over to love my neighbor. Indeed, it is precisely that love for God that motivates me to love others ... and even myself. That is, in loving God with my whole heart I will, as an act of love for God, love my neighbor.
I am convinced that herein lies the entire Christian life. Here, consider it from this viewpoint. There is debate about whether or not to spank kids. One side says, "It's required." The other side says, "It's mean." If a parent loves his (or her) child and out of that love disciplines that child, it won't be mean, excessive, or any such thing, will it? It will be measured and intentional without being misguided or blindly permissive. That is, actions motivated by love change the actions without necessarily removing them. Now, if I am an obedient believer -- loving the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind -- the result will be loving my neighbor correctly, loving myself correctly, obeying Christ's commands from the proper motivation (love, not duty), and so forth. With loving God as the aim, living the Christian life becomes an act of joy rather than an obligation.
Christian, love the Lord your God. It is a wonderful motivation and a great benefit.
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