Love God by Loving Others

God forgets (chooses not to remember) your sins.
God remembers (chooses not to forget) your work and love.

Hebrews 6:10 (NIV)
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

While God does not need our love, He welcomes our expressions and displays of it given to Him. While God does not need love, we (His creatures) do. In this verse from Hebrews, we see that we can love the One who needs nothing by loving those who do experience such need. We love God by loving others.

In reference to Jesus’ reply to the question regarding the most important actions anyone can do (“Love God and your neighbor”), Andrew Wilson wrote …

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“The most important commandment, then, is twofold: Love the Lord and love your neighbor. If you keep the first without keeping the second, then you’re not really keeping the first.” (30)

The truth of that statement can be illustrated regarding my family. If you told me that you loved me yet also told me that you do not love my wife (I know you wouldn’t, but let’s pretend), you would not really love me. Or if you expressed love for two of my children and not all three, the love would be sorely lacking.

John, the disciple, expressed the truth strongly.

1 John 4:20-21 (NIV)
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

#ordinarylives

For further reading:
Wilson, Andrew. “Two Commandments for the Price of One.” Christianity Today. Dec. 2019, p. 30.