The Greatest Command
“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.”
Mark 12:30-31
Love is the greatest command, because a heart filled with God’s unconditional agape love, makes the greatest change in people. We have God’s love for all people, and there is no room in our hearts for hate, we cannot have both God’s love and hate for people in our hearts. The more of God’s love we have in our hearts, the more we hate sin and Satan’s lies and deceptions.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12) Christians love everyone on the planet including our enemies; how can we hate people who are created in the image of God? All people who don’t know the Word are deceived by Satan, and it’s Satan’s deceptions we hate.
We are in a spiritual war, and we fight with the power of God’s Truth with a heart of love, because that is the way Jesus lived while on the earth. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29) All Christians are predestined to conform to the image of Jesus, and how can we be like Jesus without a heart filled with God’s love?
Our struggle is against Satan, and we fight with a heart of love, and Satan hates love because God is love, and he sees God’s love in us. Unconditional agape Love is the most powerful weapon that Christ gives us to fight this spiritual war. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8) A heart of Love connects us to Christ, because we now understand his heart and his emotions. We need to be close to the Lord because we depend on Him for His strength, wisdom, and love to fight this spiritual war. We fight this spiritual war with prayer, love, and with Christ being with us.
Satan tempted Jesus by twisting scripture, but Jesus was victorious over Satan because He knew with truth of the Word. (Matthew 4:1-11) Satan tempted Jesus by trying to satisfy his flesh, but Jesus fought with spiritual truth of the Word. This is the way Satan tempts us, to pace our fleshly desires over or spiritual desires.
Today fight the evil you encounter with love, as revealed by kindness, patience, and wisdom.
Prayer: Lord, continue to fill my heart with your divine love, and help me to tell others about salvation in Christ. Give me the power to control my emotions, words, and actions. In Jesus name, Amen