Isn't Love a Feeling?

Mark 12:28-31

"One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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.” 

How is it that love can be a commandment?  Isn’t it a feeling and we can’t help the way we feel?  Apparently not!  God’s currency is love. The transactions between us need to be based in love.  Loving God and our neighbor takes a soft heart.

Love is intentional.  It is acting and behaving in ways that nurture others.  We choose love by setting aside self and what we believe to be necessary for OUR dignity and OUR rights. We develop strong love for God through faith and fellowship with Him and His Word. There is obedience and trust to practice.  It doesn’t come naturally but instead, it is an exercise for our soul.

written by Nancy Gleeson

From this relationship overflows the capacity to love others.  The grace that we receive from God is what we learn to extend to others instead of judgment.  No one deserves our wrath. We need to offer forgiveness so love can exist not only between us but within us. Remember, justice is not possible on earth.  We won’t be able to reconcile relationships to determine that some are more deserving of love while others are unworthy of it.  What is needed is for us to insert the power of love into all places.  Deciding to act with love is how we trust God to create something new and good.

     
Love transcends life and death. It exists without constraints of time and space. Loving must be the most important commandment...helping our life to be on Earth as it is in Heaven.