“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Jesus summed it up in one phrase: “Love God and love people.” (My paraphrase)
In other words:
According to Jesus, the greatest commandment is all about love.
If we love God first and foremost, we should love others out of that love. It sounds simple enough until we start attempting to live it out. When we look at the reality of how we should love God and people versus how it actually plays out day to day, we’ll probably feel a little guilty and convicted of all the times we’ve fallen short.
Thankfully, Jesus knows that we cannot overcome our natural selfishness on our own, so He sent us a helper: The Holy Spirit. When a person comes to know God through the person of Jesus Christ, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Think of how a friend, counselor or nurse supports, encourages and walks with you through a tough season. The Holy Spirit does the same thing by helping us follow and obey God’s commands.
What does the Holy Spirit do, exactly?
The Holy Spirit begins to transform us from the inside out, helping us reflect the spirit and character of Christ. The Holy Spirit transforms our perspective from “ought to” to “want to” when it comes to obeying God’s Word – and that makes all the difference in how we live out God’s love.
As we navigate these days of confusion with so many questions, ask God for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit to help you love others well. This might mean showing extra patience towards your spouse or kids, offering to pick up groceries for your elderly neighbors, or perhaps it’s praying for our leaders who are making decisions that affect us and the whole world – every single day.
For the Jesus follower, now is the time to ask God for help living and loving others as Christ.
Written by Bryant Wright, Founder, RFTH
DIG DEEPER
Read “A Complete Picture of the Holy Spirit” also by Bryant Wright
