Called to Love
“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these. ”
What happens when The Cultural Mandate, The Great Commandment, and The Great Commission collide? Simple: we find our purpose and calling as followers of Christ.
Last week, we talked about The Cultural Mandate to bring flourishing to the world through our work. This week, I want to focus on The Great Commandment. In Mark 12, Jesus is asked by a teacher of religious law what the greatest commandment was. Jesus’s answer?
Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This sums up the law and the prophets. So basically, in two sentences, Jesus summarizes the entire Old Testament.
It was always about love.
God created humans because of love. He caused them to multiply because of love. He gave them work because of love. In fact, 1 John 4:16 says, “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” So, it makes sense that the way people would know that you love God is when you love people.
Does your work reflect God’s love? Too often, as Christ-followers, our work behavior doesn’t match our Christian behavior. Too often, our behavior doesn’t reflect this Great Commandment to love God and love people.
When you see that Jesus summarized 800- 900 pages of the Bible in two sentences, did the significance of his statement resonate with you? The commandment is to love.
How can you show your love for God and those around you today?
Stay tuned for week four of this blog series to see how all of these pieces come together as one: The Cultural Mandate, The Great Commandment, and next week we talk about The Great Commission. Until then, take a listen to this incredible sheWorks4Him podcast episode with Rachel Rose Nelson, who is gathering together businesses to fight human trafficking and exploitation. Talk about love in action!
- Jim
About the Author, Jim Brangenberg
Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!