Jesus modeled to us that we must love others all the time, not just when they are lovable. We should let love flow from us into the lives of others. Loving as Jesus is uncommon in this world and people will notice.

Podcast Transcript:

Good morning everyone! Today we are going to discuss how to love others, and the blessing that it brings in our lives.

I believe that the entire Bible is a declaration of God's love for his creation.

That all he is asking is that we love him in return. But he has given each of us a choice. Jesus came to this earth, because God loved us. "For God so loved the whole world, that he gave His one and only Son." (John 3:16)

Jesus walked this earth He taught us many things, but one of the greatest was to love one another.

So I'm going to start in:

Matthew 22:35-40

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “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.”

So what we are learning here is that the rabbi is engaged in an ongoing debate to determine which Commandments were light and which were weighty. The law referred here was the entire Old Testament. So back when Jesus was roaming this earth, the Jewish people still very much lived by the old law, which was all the Old Testament; Moses Law.

But Jesus came to abolish that law and for us to live in the period of grace.

So "Love the Lord your God with all your heart or soul in your mind." This command is from Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 6:5 is repeated twice daily by the faithful Jews, and encapsulates the idea of total devotion to God and includes the duty to obey the rest of God's commandments. heart, soul, and mind do not represent rigid compartments of human existence, but rather together refer to the whole person.

And so Jesus commanded us to love your neighbor as yourself. Love signifies a concrete responsibility to seek the greatest good of one's neighbor, both Jew and Gentile; so everyone.

So let's get started with our devotional. This is going to be two parts.

Since Jesus told his disciples in everything, "treat people the same way you would want them to treat you." And you can find that in Matthew 7:12.

Most of us refer to this code of conduct as the golden rule. In theory, we'd probably agree that this is a good foundation for a healthy relationship. Yet it's tough to live up to such a standard.

If we made a list of the ways we hoped to be treated and compared it with our own behavior, we would likely fall short. And of course, it's easy to love when others treat us well. But how do we respond when their behavior is hurtful or unpleasant?

The truth is Jesus meant for us to love others all the time, not just when they're lovable, regardless of their attitude towards us, we are to think about the relationship qualities we value like loyalty, trust, encouragement, forgiveness, acceptance, and protection. And let these flow from us in the other person's direction.

Unfortunately, our society breeds selfishness, greed and pride, which are the enemies of the love Jesus commanded. But when we care for others, in the way the Lord prescribes, relationships can thrive and deepen. Treating others with this kind of love isn't normal, natural, or easy, especially when people are unkind. In fact, loving as Jesus commanded is impossible on our own. But when we trust Christ the Savior, the Holy Spirit empowers us and lives his life through us.

Take time to list the ways you hope others will treat you. Then ask is that how I treat people? Pray for God to reveal one area where he will help you apply the Golden Rule.

As we have discussed many times, we live in a world right now that is grea