Love…The Command
God gave 10 commands. The Jews turned them into hundreds of commands. Isn't that just like man to throw in their own interpretations? When God says no, He means no! We
just can’t leave it alone. We are just as guilty today as the Jewish leaders were when Jesus came 2000 years ago. They thought they were right. They believed they held the keys
to the kingdom… sure. They had all the rules down but their love was not there. Their hearts were in following the rules… all the rules they came up with, that is. In the last
days the Laodiceans believe they are right, but they are oh so wrong. They need eye salve from God to anoint their eyes so they can see the truth. So many interpretations and
teachings have filled their minds from so many books and so many teachers of doctrine. The Bible was made to quote and teach from not to interpret! Bear with me just a minute
please. I know there are good books out there, and good teachers, but let’s look for a moment at some quotes from the Bible that have been interpreted away because many no longer believe
the Bible is God’s infallible Word. The quotes that will be presented here are a small sampling on Love.
Jesus said the 10 commandments could be summed up with two commands and later told the disciples “I give you a new command”, “Love others as I have loved you”. Wow! Now we have an
example! Love God, Love your neighbor and ‘this is how’! Do you see a pattern here? And I say there is one common component that we are commanded to do…LOVE! Why do we
complicate things? We add burden, God simplifies. Now let’s get to the part I want to share… Love… The Command.
Love… this is a command to do. That means we either choose to do it or not. Get this. It is not, “I will save you and change you till you love and this will be fulfilled".
This is a command from the get go. I Corinthians chapter 13 is the love chapter and I find it interesting that the King James Version chose to use the word charity instead of love, unlike
all other modern translations. Charity is a choice just like a command is a choice. As we love compassion will grow. It is not the compassion that we were commanded to
have. Again love is a choice. We have free choice. We choose to love or not, but compassion is not a choice, it is product of love.
When we look at the command “Love your neighbor as yourself”, we can see how we can choose. How do you want others to think or act toward you? Do you want them to tell others bad
things about you? Do you want to make them look worse than you? Do you want them to give you dirty looks or get mad at you when you do something wrong? How do you want them to
react? Do you want them to forgive you when you blow it? Do you want them to get angry with you? We do all these things without even stopping to think about how it is the
opposite of love and we just chose to not love! Contrary to popular belief, God will never make us love. That is our choice! Here is love and love is what we are to choose… Love
is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others. 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 truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. In John
13:35 Jesus said “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”.
Now here is a story from Jesus in Matthew 18 that tells us how serious God is about the way we love. You will not hear this from the pulpit, at least not from most churches today. It
is about accountability to God.
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand
talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and
worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same
servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant
fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his
fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I
forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to
the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Then Jesus said:
“So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses”.
Ouch! This was spoken to the disciples when Peter asked how many times he should forgive. No interpretation here. I do not want God to deliver me to the tormentors, till I pay
all that was due to Him. Serving God is serious business and being His child brings with it a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly. When God our heavenly Father says “this is
My commandment” we better sit up and take notice. We need to set our sights on fulfilling this expectation that God has required of us. Loving is serving, serving God and serving
others as we serve ourselves.
Ken