God must be interested in seeing that we take very good care of our world.
Before we look into what we should do to serve humanity we must first understand God’s position.
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
– Psalm 24:1
So this tells us that God is interested in our human development.
And that can only mean love for the world.
If God loves the world then we need a system of communication.
But there is one problem standing in the way of that effective communication system.
The problem is the sinful nature of humanity.
The sinful nature of man would make it very difficult to conduct life without offending God.
It would be difficult to approach God who is Holy when everything about us is sinful.
So God had to do something.
Jesus paid for our sins so that we can have access to God in a name associated to Holiness.
Now we can have the grace to access God’s throne of Mercy.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
– John 3:16
OK, Now God’s job was done.
God has put in a system whereby we can access the Throne of mercy anytime we have done a wrong.
God confirmed Jesus after he was baptised by John the baptist.
When Jesus came out of the water God said this:
“And a voice from heaven said, This is my son, whom I love; With Him I am well pleased.”
– Matthew 3:17
It is clear God saw Love. God saw the compassion that Jesus would go on to exercise.
So we know that God loved Jesus and God also loved the world that he had to send the best gift in Jesus.
God has already fulfilled his own part of the bargain.
God presented light to the world so that those who believe in that light can have a means of contending with darkness.
We do however need to pay it forward.
Ok, so how do we pay it forward to our fellow human beings?
This brings us to what we must do to please God. I hope you can see that Love is what God is about. So it makes sense to say that loving others would also please God.
But this love must be equally yoked.
“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
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus what he considered to be the most important commandment.
Jesus said to the law expert that the most important things are to first Love God with all your heart and to Love your neighbour as yourself.
The fact that Jesus upheld this in the new testament suggest that it applies very well to this present generation.
“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 neighbour as yourself.
There is no commandment greater than these.”
– Matthew 12:30-31
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
– John 15:12
v16: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so
that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that
whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”
– John 15:16
So what does it mean to love your neighbour as yourself.
I don’t believe it is about giving other people the same amount of stuff in your possession.
That would be virtually impossible for everyone to achieve. Your neighbour in this sense is any other person who is near you that you have the capacity to interact with. Your service to them is first and foremost spiritual related such as sharing the good news of the Kingdom Of God, Showing Empathy, Showing Compassion, Showing Mercy, Empowerment, Inclusiveness and many more. possible.
If you follow the story of Jesus you will find that everywhere he went he exercised compassion.
He was out to teach, but yet he was always concerned about the welfare of the people he encountered. He did not discriminate. He loved everyone.
There are 4 things we can do to position ourselves.
1. Humility.
“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”
– Matthew 20:27
That is humility instruction right there.
Don’t wait to be served. Be a server instead. Humility is needed here.
2. Put yourself in the other persons shoes and have a sense of how you want to be treated.
3. Meditate on the Jesus example. Jesus went about doing good. The phrase ‘went about’ shows that Jesus main concern was to see that everyone he met was saved and healed of their diseases.
4. Rely on divine instruction.
Please read the whole of Psalm 25 in your own time.
It talks about trusting in the Lord.
Verses 12-14 are particularly very important.
It says there that God will put in your heart what to do.
How you exercise your love will come from a heart that is already filled with good intentions.
No one will force or persuade you to show love the way it has been impressed by God.
We need to understand that as a nation and as a people, we cannot underestimate the spiritual power behind love. We must understand that God is a Spirit and His rewards are convenanted.
We must love others the way we want to be loved.
We cannot have it another way and expect the best of everything.
God has promised to answer when we call on Him under the atmosphere of love.
I hope this has been a blessing to you.
