21 Apr Living Better by the Principle of Greater Things
There are so many details we are responsible for in the Christian life that if I make a list of them and try to attend to them all, it is easy to get overwhelmed. So, I look for broader, unifying principles that might help me manage the details. I call it the Principle of Greater Things.
Fortunately on this point, Scripture is unambiguous. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets.”(Matthew 22:37-39)
That is, if you love God and love others (the big things), you will keep the entirety of the law (all the smaller things).
So there you have it! The two big things in the Christian life are to love God with our whole being, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Greater Principle #1: Love God
But one might ask oneself, “What does it mean to love God?”
Again, Scripture comes to the rescue. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
But it’s a little more nuanced than that. For example, the Pharisees in Jesus’ time kept the law rigorously. Yet, Jesus called them hypocrites. He said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Isaiah 29:13) So, it is possible to obey God without loving him.
To that end, Paul spoke of being obedient from the heart (Romans 6:17). That’s what God wants. Not cold-hearted obedience. Not obedience with gritted teeth, clenched fists, and squinted eyes. Rather, obedience from the heart.
Hebrews 11:6 helps us further. It says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
This passage tells us that when we trust God, that’s what pleases him. God is not pleased with legalistic obedience. But when we trust Him, when we believe Him, and when we do what He says based on our confidence in his character, that pleases God.
That is what Jesus meant when he said, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.” We can keep His commandments without loving Him, but we cannot love Him without keeping His commandments.
So, obedience from the heart is how we demonstrate our love for God. If that is what governs our overall attitude in our Christian life, we will automatically get many, many of the smaller things right.
Greater Principle #2: Love Your Neighbor
Then, we might ask ourselves, “What does it mean to love our neighbor as ourselves?”
Unsurprisingly, Scripture again comes to the rescue. After calling people to sincere demonstrations of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1 – 4, Paul describes the right heart attitude behind these acts:
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
So, if these characteristics govern the hearts of Christians, we will get many, many of the other things right.
But there’s even more help than that. It has been my experience and observation that if I get the first two right, the rest tend to fall in line. That is, if I am patient and kind, all the rest tend to follow.
Seizing the Principle
Therefore, if I want to seize the opportunity inherent in the principle of greater things, I can make great progress in the Christian life by mastering the following verses:
The Supremacy of Love:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37 – 39)
Love God:
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)
Love Your Neighbor:
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4 – 8)
Conclusion
Scripture reveals to us the importance of mastering Scripture.
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” (Psalm 1:1 – 3)
“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Joshua 1:8)
Based on these remarkable promises, I urge you to read the passages on love every day for at least for 30 days (the approximate amount of time it takes to rewire the brain with new input), and then at least once a week for the rest of your life. Why go to the trouble of mastering a passage only to lose it later through neglect?
How many couples have read the 1 Corinthians 13 passage at their wedding, and then come home from their honeymoon only to begin violating the very passage that was read at their wedding?
Why? Because it takes more than hearing something, it takes more than knowing something, to be changed by it. If it is important, it must be repeated until it changes us.
So, take the “30 Day/Lifetime” challenge on vital Scriptures! It can have a dramatic impact on our lives. If we master these unifying principles/passages on love, many of the smaller issues of the Christian life will automatically fall into place.
If you haven’t downloaded it already, I’ve created a 15 minute video with some tips on not merely knowing verses from the Bible, but on repeating them until they change you. You can still get that video for free here: Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You.
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