The Second Greatest Commandment

“‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:39b NLT)  After reading these words you may have thought, ‘That sounds nice and all, but how do I love my neighbor when I don’t even know how to love myself?’  I too have asked that question and the answer is simple.  You can’t.  Only when Christ’s love is perfected in us can we truly love our neighbors as ourselves.

What do I mean by this?  I mean that we must know who we really are before we can love others.  And when I say know, I mean that there can’t be doubt, hesitancy, or indecision over who we believe we are.  When we know who we are to God and that our place with Him is secure, it enables us to love our neighbors without walls, without agenda, without fear, with gentleness, and in perfect harmony.  Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.  If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.  (I John 4:18 NLT)

When my husband was in the service, his commanding officer had a Scottie doggy.  That doggie KNEW who he was and WHO he belonged to.  It didn’t matter who he encountered, what went on over the course of that day, or who came and went.  That doggie knew his place.  He wasn’t worried about making impressions or competing, he was secure in his master’s love.  And because he was secure, nothing shook him.  He had more confidence and assurance than anyone I have ever met. 

Like that doggie, we must know who we belong to.  We must not allow words from our past to define us, instead we have to rest in the fact that we are first and foremost children of the Most High God.

But we can’t stop there.  To really know our place, we must believe without doubt that we are truly loved.  We must accept that through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for us, we have been adopted, given a new name, made new.  We have been redeemed, the ransom for our freedom has been paid.  There is no greater love that this.  

John 15:13 (NLT) says, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  Jesus already proved how LOVED and VALUABLE we are to Him.  There is no question as to our worth.  That question was answered the day He offered His life for our own.

The next step is to not only believe this, but to walk in it.  When we truly know who we are and who we belong to, it is evident in the way we live our lives.  It is evident in the way we interact with others.  His love compels us to love each other.  

“This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:17 NLT)  

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.  God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.  And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.  So we will not be afraid on the day of judgement, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.  We love each other because he loved us first. (I John 4:16-17, 19 NLT)

Are you living loved?