Love is All You Need

Perhaps The Beatles got it write when they wrote “All you need is love…” The world needs love, now more than ever…

In fact, love is so important that when Christ was questioned about which commandment was the most important her replied by saying:

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mar 12:29-31 NIV)

Love is the most important. First, love God. Second, love your neighbor as yourself. I don’t know about you but I love myself a lot. I’m sure that you love yourself quite a bit as well. Think of all the things that you will do for yourself! You’ll keep your body healthy by eating right and exercising or visiting the doctor if you get sick. You’ll dress yourself appropriately so you won’t be uncomfortable. You’ll buy yourselves all kinds of things so that you either don’t have to work so hard or so you can play and relax as hard as you like. Imagine if we all treated everyone with the love that we have for ourselves!! What a different place the world would be!!

Unfortunately not everybody loves themselves as much as the next person, some people don’t have the love for themselves that Christ is envisioning in the verse above, but they should. All people are wonderful creations made by God, He knew them as they were formed in their mothers womb. As Christians we should be working to enable others to see how wonderful they are! As Paul says, without love, everything else is nothing…

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1Co 13:1-8 NIV)

In this Christmas season and at all times love your neighbor as yourself and in so doing help others see how much God loves them and how they should love themselves. Imagine how the world would look if everyone loved the way Christ wants them to…