by Brandon Cox: Which, of all the commandments in the Bible, is the most important?

Both Jesus and Paul argue that it is love – love for God and love for neighbors.

Paul explains why that’s true, but it’s hard for some of us to embrace his reasoning:

Love makes it impossible to harm another, so love fulfills all that the law requires.

~ Romans 13:10 TPT

So Paul says that love is the beginning and end of the law. If you really, truly love people the way God does, you will fulfill everything else God commanded you to do.

Why is this hard to grasp? Because we’re used to religion being about God’s demand for worship and our response of obedience. And granted, God certainly expects and deserves to be worshipped and we should certainly respond with obedience. But that’s not God’s biggest priority for us.

While we are focused on religion’s vertical orientation (me and God), God is focused on the horizontal orientation of my faith (me and other people). And there is no better way to honor God and to share the good news about Jesus than to show genuine love for other people.

This simplifies life a lot, doesn’t it? Instead of living for achievements and accolades, we get to simply live to love.

You’ll never know what the truest and highest form of love is until you see Jesus Christ as the Redeemer who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. And when you really understand that moment of sacrifice and what it provided for all of us, you’ll never be the same.

That kind of love is contagious. It spreads. Once you’ve received it, you simply have to give it away and tell others about it. And when your life is about loving others the way God does so that you can point them toward him, you are already performing the greatest service God has asked for.

So, really, go love someone today.