Priorities in the Kingdom 6
We are looking at the “first” of Jesus that He spoke about in the book of Matthews. We have talked about five already and to refresh your mind I have listed them.
1. First be reconciled with your brother.
2. First seek the Kingdom.
3. First take the beam from your own eye.
4. First bind the strong man
5. Gather ye together first the tares
Are there certain things that God emphasizes in importance? The bible is full of scripture that speaks on the importance of things, like the fear of God, and holiness, and redemption. There are many more that I can mention, but to save time and space I would like to talk about the one thing that not only has great value but also basically sums it all up for us. This is not a statement that stands on its own, as this one needs all the others to make sense.
Since God gave the law, Israel has struggled to keep it. The purpose of the law was never to justify anyone, but to show everyone that we need something more. Grace is greater than law as law sets the standard, but grace will empower you to live above that standard. People tried to keep the law and the breaking of the law only brought condemnation, as there was no grace for breaking the law. So is the law bad? Absolutely not! The law was there to point us to Christ. We are to seek justification by grace and not by the law.
The problem with Israel was that they had a desire to keep the law and some really tried. Most of them absolutely failed because keeping the law was driven by desire and not by love. The difference is that desire will make you try, but love will make you sacrifice. Love is stronger than desire. First Corinthians Thirteen is the chapter about love, not desire. I desire a lot of things, but I only love a few things because of the price it costs. God didn’t desired to save us; He loves us and He loves saving us. So to make us understand that we don’t have to struggle to please Him, He gave us this command.
Matt. 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, you shalt love your neighbor as yourself.
Even the Beatles had greater revelation than most people I know. They sang: “All you need is love, love is all you need.” Arguably, they might not have known this truth Jesus spoke, but at least they had the words right. Love is where we need to start and love is where we need to end. When you love someone you don’t want to steal their stuff, you want to protect their stuff. When you love someone you don’t want to kill them, you want to empower them. The law is completed and fulfilled in a statement Jesus makes, so if you want to keep the law, start here. Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. That is the only way we will ever keep the commandments of God. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the commandments of God, He came to fulfill them by loving God and loving us. We fulfill His commandments not by bodily effort and mental desire, but by loving Him and loving others.
Jesus puts us loving God on the same plain as loving others and loving ourselves. Is there something you need to accept about yourself so that you can begin to love yourself? Is there something you need to forgive in yourself so that you can begin to love yourself? Start today with “you” and let it come from there and go out to everybody else.