Above All Else, Love

by Lisa Ellis

Scripture tells us the greatest commandment of all is to love.

“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.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

matthew 22:36-40

You can never go wrong spreading love. When you show love towards the people in your life, it’s an expression of the same love God has shown to you. Love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself. That’s what the Lord commands for us all.

The ultimate gift was the love Jesus showed us by giving up his life to take our sins.  We were so underserving of that love but He did it anyway.  Through Jesus, God’s love brought us salvation and what an amazing gift of love that was!  

Love is expressed in so many different forms and in many ways.  You can love your children, your spouse, your parents, and your friends but God expects us to also love our enemies.  Now that can be a hard one. There are two reasons we should love our enemies. One is simply because God said to, but the other is because God loved us first.

“We love because God first loved us.”

1 John 4:19

Every day in my prayers I try to end with “show me today Lord where I have the opportunity to love and encourage others.”  Everyone has a cross to bear, sometimes many crosses in their life, and a simple hug, smile or encouraging word can make such a difference in someone’s day.  Be intentional about spreading the love to others that our Lord has given us. Here’s a prayer to get us started.

Dear Lord, we come to you today with open hearts.  Thank you for being such a loving, gracious God.  Thank you for loving us enough to send your son to die for us.  That was the ultimate gift of love.  It is perfect, it never fails, and nothing can separate us from that love. We pray you gift us with the overflowing power of your love to make a difference in this world and to bring honor to you in everything we do.  Help us to love others as you love us.  Help us to see our enemies through your eyes Lord.  Thank you for equipping us to face each day with your love, your forgiveness and your grace. We love you Lord. In Jesus’ loving name, Amen.