Introduction

Someone has well said, "Love may not make the world go around but it sure makes the trip worthwhile." That statement characterizes the universal sentiment that the sweetest of all human emotions is love. All the songs, poems, books, stories, and films about love could fill volumes. God Himself would agree that the greatest of all possible human experiences is love. However, the kind of love God affirms is quite different from the kind of love the world understands. Matthew 22:34-40 is a passage about love, but it is not the normal kind of human love. The passage is speaking about a love that only God can produce.

After two attempts at testing Jesus, the religious leaders again try to discredit Him. The Pharisees and the Herodians first tried to test Him politically (cf. vv. 15-22), followed by the Sadducees, who tried to test Him theologically (vv. 23-33). In Matthew 22:34-40, the Pharisees try once again to test Him, this time in the spiritual dimension. This was the last attempt of the religious leaders at questioning Jesus. Mark records that "no man after that dared to ask him any question" (Mark 12:34).

Lesson

I. THE PLOT (v. 34)

"When the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together."

A. The Silence of the Sadducees

The Greek verb for "to put to silence" is ephimosen, which

literally means "to be gagged." Jesus confounded the Sadducees. It wasn't that they wanted to be silent; they simply had no choice. The same Greek verb is used in many places in the New Testament.

1. Mark 1:25--Mark said, "Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him." Ephimosen is used here in reference to silencing a demon.

2. Mark 4:39--Jesus "rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." The verb is used here of the Lord's silencing a storm.

3. 1 Corinthians 9:9--Paul quoted Moses as saying, "Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the grain." The verb is used here of muzzling an ox.

When ephimosen is used in this way, it refers to an unwilling gagging. The Sadducees had more to say but nothing of real value to communicate. Jesus brought their argument to a complete end. They attempted to make Him look foolish, but He turned the tables on them.

B. The Struggle of the Pharisees

When the Pharisees heard of Jesus' interaction with the Sadducees, they must have had mixed emotions. They must have been glad to see their enemies silenced. They would have been happy to see the question answered, because they probably grappled with it many times. However, they would much rather have seen Jesus discredited than the Sadducees silenced. There must have been a great deal of gloating over the Sadducees' ineptness, but that was far outweighed by their desire to destroy Jesus. He posed a far greater threat to them than the Sadducees ever would.

C. The Summary of Scripture

As the Pharisees gathered together, they became the fulfillment of prophecy.

1. Psalm 2:2-3--The psalmist said, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."

2. Acts 4:26-27--Luke, quoting the psalmist, said, "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For a truth against thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and the people of Israel, were gathered together."

Psalm 2:2-3 looked to the cross and predicted a counsel of men plotting against Jesus. Acts 4:26-27 looked back at the cross at all those gathered against Him. Even the plotting against Jesus fit into the plan of God as foretold in Scripture.

II. THE PROCEDURE (vv. 35-40)

"Then one of them, who was a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

A. The Approach of the Pharisees (v. 35)

"One of them, who was a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him."

1. The lawyer (v. 35a)

"One of them, who was a lawyer."

The Greek word translated "lawyer" refers to a legal expert. Matthew normally used the word translated "scribe" to refer to someone who was an expert in the law, but here he uses a different word. Some Bible interpreters assume "lawyer" was not the word that Matthew intended to use because it is uncommon to his writing. But Matthew had the right to use any word he desired to communicate effectively. I believe he used that particular word to suggest that this particular Pharisee was a cut above the average scribe.

A scribe was one who copied the law, and was an authority on interpreting the law. A scribe was half attorney, half theologian. He was an expert in biblical law, not secular law. The lawyer in verse 35 might have stood out as an expert among the experts. He was sent to Jesus to ask a question on behalf of the rest of the Pharisees.

2. The logic (v. 35b)

"Asked him [Jesus] a question."

The Pharisees were filled with hatred because all they wanted to do was eliminate Jesus Christ. The lawyer however seemed to be more objective than those who sent him. Mark's gospel describes the same scene and said, "One of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?" (Mark 12:28). The lawyer thought Jesus had answered the Sadducees' questions very well. He was attracted to the wisdom of Jesus. He could easily play out his role as a Pharisee, but could also get a direct answer that might help him in his own thinking. However he was not totally innocent because verse 35 says he was testing question. He was not totally objective, but was searching for the truth.

3. The loyalty (v. 35c)

"Testing him."

The primary authority in the history of Judaism has been Moses. Moses spoke to God face to face as a man speaks to his friend, and that sets him apart from every other Jewish leader. God searched the world for a man to give His law through and Moses was His choice. Moses penned the first five books of the Old Testament. He was and is the most admired man in Judaism. One rabbi said that since God called Moses faithful in all His house (Num. 12:6-7), that means He ranks Moses higher than the angels. Matthew 23:2 says, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat" because that symbolized ultimate authority.

The Jewish leaders thought Jesus was attacking Moses' teaching. But Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that He did not come to destroy the law and the prophets but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). Jesus knew He would be accused of attacking Moses and setting Himself up as the new authority. The Pharisees were hoping Jesus would affirm that He went beyond Moses' teaching so they could accuse Him of being a heretic. If they could get Jesus to usurp Mosaic authority, He would become instantly unpopular with the people.

B. The Question of the Lawyer (v. 36)

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law?"

"Master" was a term the Jewish leaders used in the hopes of flattering Jesus and getting Him off His guard. It refers to a teacher of the law. The lawyer's question was, "Which is the great commandment in the law?" The Greek text uses the word translated "great" as a comparative term so the verse could be translated, "Which is the greatest commandment in the law?"

1. The origin of Jewish law

The history of Jewish law records that there are 613 separate laws to obey. They arrived at that number because 613 separate letters are used in the Ten Commandments. There is no apparent connection in the letters and the laws but that was the number they came up with. This is what is termed, "Rabbinical letterism." They then divided their interpretation of the law into two parts: 248 affirmative laws--one for every part of the human body--and 365 negative laws--one for every day of the year. They divided the 613 laws into light laws and heavy laws. The light laws were not as binding as the heavier laws. They knew they couldn't possibly keep all 613 laws, so they were more lenient on some and heavy on others. Matthew 23:4 says the Pharisees "bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders."

2. The obliteration of Jewish law

There was much debate between the Jewish religious leaders on which laws were light and which were heavy. The Pharisees assumed Jesus was a man with a big ego who was trying to establish Himself as the Messiah. In their minds He was sure to set Himself up as the only authority. The Sadducees accepted only the Pentateuch and held Moses as their absolute authority. The Pharisees also held Moses as their supreme authority, but also accepted the entire Old Testament as authoritative. They, like the Sadducees, expected Jesus to supersede Moses.

C. The Response of the Lord (vv. 37-40)

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

1. The command to love your God (vv. 37-38)

"Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."

Jesus did the opposite of what the Pharisees expected Him to do: He quoted Moses directly from the Penteteuch (Deut. 6:5). He affirmed a strong solidarity with Mosaic teaching. Not only did He quote Moses, but He also quoted the most familiar passage Moses ever wrote! The Shema (Deut. 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Num. 15:37-41) was the most familiar Scripture to all Jews because they had to recite it twice a day. Every Jewish home had a mezuza by the front door with the Shema in it. The men strapped phylacteries (small boxes with portions of the Shema in them) to their foreheads and left arms to remind them of their responsibility to God. Many orthodox Jews follow the same practices today.

a) The commitment of our love

The Hebrew word for love in Deuteronomy 6:5 is aheb, which refers primarily to love exhibited by the will, mind, and actions rather than love exhibited by feelings or emotions. It is the highest kind of love, for it motivates you to do what is right and noble no matter what you may be feeling. It is akin to the agape love of the Greek language, which is the love of intelligence, as opposed to phileo, which is the love of emotion, or eros which is physical attraction. The love Jesus speaks of in the greatest commandment is the noblest, purest, and highest form of self-sacrificing love that each person is commanded to have toward God.

The Jewish people already knew the number-one command was to love God with their whole heart, soul, mind, and as Mark adds, strength (Mark 12:30). In pointing out all four aspects of the human being, Jesus is simply calling together all that a person is. He was saying, "You need to love God with your entire being." I don't think His intent is to sort out the individual sense of each word, but there is something to be learned by studying the four words He used.

(1) "heart"--intelligent love

The Hebrew understanding of the word heart refers to the core of one's being. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." The heart is the intellect, which produces thoughts, words, and actions. Proverbs 23:7 says, "As he [man] thinketh in his heart, so is he." The intellectual part of a man is most often seen in the term heart, although the word is sometimes used to describe other aspects of human nature.

(2) "soul"--emotional love

Matthew seems to have the word soul to refer to emotions. In Matthew 26:38 Jesus says, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful."

(3) "mind"--willing love

The Lord replaced the word might in Deuteronomy 6:5 with the word mind. He was not misquoting the verse because mind is simply another way of communicating might. The Greek word translated "might" is broad word that has to do with the intention and will of a man. It refers to moving ahead with energy. The word mind can be used in the same sense.

(4) "strength"--serving love

Mark adds the word strength, which refers to man's physical capacities. He is to love God even with all of his physical being.

There is a certain amount of overlapping in those words but they form four channels of love in a perfect balance. We are commanded to love God with all the intellectual, emotional, volitional, and physical parts of our being.

b) The commitment of our Lord

God does not want people to simply go through religious rituals. God wants people to love Him with their entire being. God expects no less than He Himself offers because He loves man with His whole being. He gave us Himself in death for our sin. Because He gave us His wholehearted love, He does not want our halfhearted love in return. Since He loved us enough to give us His Son, we are to love Him enough to give Him ourselves.

(1) John 15:13--Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." We are to lay down our life for God. That's what He did for us.

(2) Romans 5:8--Paul said, "God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." God showed that love can occur even where there is no initial reciprocation. We are to love God, not for what we gain, but because it is right to do so.

c) The commitment of our lives

Believing in God is not enough. He also wants us to obey Him. James 2:19 says, "The demons also believe, and tremble." Why then aren't they redeemed? Because even though they believe in God, they do not love or obey Him.

The distinguishing mark of any believer is that he loves God with all his heart and therefore obeys Him. God commands believers to love Him as much as they possibly can. Regardless of one's religious activity, no one is ever right with God until his heart, soul, mind, and strength manifest a love for God. A person does not prove he is a Christian simply because he believes in God. He demonstrates the validity of his faith when as a result of his belief, he displays a consuming love for God.

Even though the apostle Paul struggled in his Christian life, he loved God and hated sin. In Romans 7:18 he says, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." Paul was saying he loved God with all his heart, even though he didn't always do the right thing. Even though he sometimes sinned, he nonetheless hated his sin. That is the mark of any Christian.

With this great commandment, Jesus unmasked the Pharisees and their hypocritical love for God. In fact He called them hypocrites seven separate times in Matthew 23 (vv. 13-15, 23, 25, 27, 29). A hypocrite is someone who pretends to have something but really has nothing. The Pharisees did not love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They went through the religious motions, feeding their pride while trying to appear righteous.

d) The characteristics of obedience

The greatest commandment Jesus spoke of was not new to the Pharisees. It was taken directly from Moses's writings and was a Mosaic way of describing redeemed people. Redeemed people are always characterized by obedience.

(1) Described in the Old Testament

(a) Exodus 20:6--The Lord said He shows His to those who love Him and keep His commandments. God wanted the Pharisees to keep His commandments, but they couldn't because they didn't love Him.

(b) Deuteronomy 7:9--Moses said, "Know, therefore, that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God who keepeth covenant and mercy with them who love Him and keep his commandments."

(c) Nehemiah 1:5--Nehemiah said, "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God, who keepeth covenant and mercy for them who love Him and observe His commandments."

There was never a time or place in Old Testament times where God commanded external obedience apart from internal motivation. Obedience was always commanded from those who had a willing heart. Love is always the first step. When Jesus said ti His disciples, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15), He wasn't saying anything new. God had been commanding that all along.

(2) Described in the New Testament

(a) 1 John 4:19--John said, "We love him, because he first loved us." Christians are those who love God.

(b) Ephesians 6:24--Paul said, "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Grace is extended to those who honestly love the Lord.

e) The characteristics of disobedience

(1) 1 Corinthians 16:22--Paul said, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema." God calls people to love Him.

(2) Exodus 20:5--In the Ten Commandments we read, "I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and forth generations of them that hate me." Deuteronomy 5:9 reiterates the same idea.

(3) Deuteronomy 32:41--The Lord said, "I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them who hate me."

(4) Proverbs 8:36--According to Solomon wisdom says, "He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul; all they that hate me love death."

It is basic for man to resent God because He makes demands our lives. If you don't love God, you hate Him. Jesus said, "He that is not with me is against me" (Matt. 12:30). The choice not to love God is an affront to His holy name because He loved the world enough to send His Son to die on the cross for your sins. It is characteristic of the world to hate God.

The Love God Wants

God desires that men love Him. We express our love for Him by:

1. Meditating on God's glory (Ps. 18:1-3).

2. Trusting in God's great power (Ps. 31:23).

3. Seeking fellowship with God (Ps. 63:1-8).

4. Loving God's Law (Ps. 119:165).

5. Being sensitive to how God feels (Ps. 69:9).

6. Loving what God loves (Ps. 119:72, 97, 103).

7. Loving whom God loves (1 John 5:1).

8. Hating what God hates (Ps. 97:10).

9. Grieving over sin (Matt. 26:75).

10. Rejecting the world (1 John 2:15).

11. Longing to be with Christ (2 Tim. 4:8).

12. Obeying God wholeheartedly (John 14:21).

Although the believer's obedience is imperfect, the love he has for God is still apparent. Paul said in Philippians 1:9, "I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge." He was saying, "I know you love God, but I pray you learn to love Him more perfectly." A believer will love God throughout His life, yet there should be a continuing development of that reality. A true believer is a lover of God and a keeper of His commandments. Anyone who doesn't desire to keep God's commandments is someone who doesn't love Him or know Him.

f) The characteristics of forgiveness

Can men simply choose to stop hating God and start loving Him? No. It is impossible for man to generate this kind of love on his own because all men are bent toward hating God. The first step to loving God the way you should is to be forgiven of the hate you feel toward Him. The next step is to realize that you cannot forgive yourself because you are incapable of atoning for your own sins. You need a Savior who can pay the penalty for your sin of not loving God.

(1) The need to love

Jesus Christ came into the world to die in your place and to pay the penalty for your sin of hating God. Man doesn't obey God and is indifferent to Him because he has never loved Him. Man needs to be forgiven for that. God wants to forgive man for this loveless attitude and that's why Christ died on the cross. He bore the sin that we deserve to bare. Since we show we love God by obeying Him, we show we hate Him by disobeying Him.

(2) The ability to love

Christ not only can forgive man for a past lack of love, but also can infuse man with the ability to love God in the present and future. Paul this in Romans 5:5: "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit." The Spirit of God, who indwells the believer at salvation, enables him to love God. We could never love God the way He desires, so we need divine enabling to do so. Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for our sin. He forgives our unloving attitude toward God, and enables us to love God in the future by the Holy Spirit. When a believer sins, he hates his sin because he is controlled by his love for God.

That has always been God's standard. He wants people to love Him and keep His commandments. The Pharisees should have admitted they didn't really love God because of their inability to keep His commandments and their self- centered attitudes. They didn't ask for forgiveness because they didn't realize their complete lack of love for God. When you realize you don't really love God, Christ can come into your life, forgive your sin, and grant you the ability to love God the way you should.

2. The command to love your neighbor (vv. 39-40)

"The second [commandment] is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

The second commandment is like the first in that it is of the same nature and character. When you rightly love God, you will rightly love people. The Pharisees didn't love people. They bound heavy burdens on them (Matt. 23:4), and abused them. Their ancestors killed the prophets and they were attempting to have Christ Himself killed. They actually hated men because they stole their money and took bribes against people. They loved themselves more than they loved others.

a) The meaning (v. 39)

"The second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

To love your neighbor as yourself means to love all people with your whole heart. The love spoken of here is the same as the first commandment. It is the love of the will, intention, and action. The second commandment means to take care of someone else the same way you would take care of yourself.

We are all very concerned with our comfort and meeting our own needs. But are we as concerned with the comforts and needs of others? When you are hungry, you feed yourself, but when someone else is hungry, do you take care of them with the same concern? When you are uncomfortable, you find comfort. Do you have the same feeling for someone else who is in of comfort? We need to care about others the same way we care about ourselves.

b) The message (v. 40)

"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Christianity is not complicated. You simply love God and men with your entire being. If you love God, you'll do what He commands, and if you love men, you'll meet their needs. Verse 40 explains that these two commandments are behind all the other commandments in the Old Testament. If you love God with all your being and love everyone as you love yourself, you don't need any more rules. All the other commandments are simply an extension or practical application of those two commandments.

That there are laws in Scripture against murder indicates that people don't love each other. The same is true for laws in the Bible against idolatry. If we loved God the way we ought to, there would be no idols! Paul said, "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to its neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13:8- 10). Everything reduces itself to: loving God and your neighbor.

D. The Reaction of the Inquirer (Mark 12:32-34)

"The scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth; for there is one God, and there is no other but he. And to love him with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that dared to ask him any question."

The lawyer agreed with Jesus' words and then repeated what Jesus had said. Jesus replied "Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God." The lawyer's believing was good, but not good enough. Believing is one step short of loving. God wants you to love Him by opening your heart and saying, "I want Jesus Christ to come into my life, forgive my unloving attitude, and enable me to love as I ought." Mark closes his description of this account by saying, "No man after that dared to asked him any question." They were no match for Jesus--and they knew it.

Conclusion

What is God calling for? He wants us to love Him, which is to obey Him, and to love your neighbor as ourselves. If you haven't done that, you need two things: A Savior to forgive you of your past and divine enabling to help you love God in the present and future. If you are a Christian, you are already loving God and your neighbor, but you also recognize that sin hinders you from loving in the fullest sense. You need to starve the flesh and ask God to allow you to conquer sin. You will then begin to love Him and your neighbor more than ever before.

Believe It Or Not!

Robert Ripley's "Believe It Or not!" says, "The longest--and simplest--love letter ever written was the work of a Parisian painter named Marcel de Leclure in 1875. The addressed was Magdalene de Villalore, his aristocratic light of love. The missive contained the phrase `jevous aime' `I love you' 1,875,000 times--a thousand times the calendar years of the date. The prodigious lover did not pen the letter with his own hand. He hired a scribe. A lazy type could have instructed the secretary: `Write the amatory sentence 1,875,000 times.' But Leclure was too entranced with the sound of the three words. He dictated it word for word and had the hired man repeat it verbatim. All in all therefore the phrase was uttered orally and in writing 5,625,000 times--before it reached its destination. Never was love made manifest by as great an expenditure of time and effort" (cited in Paul Lee Tan's Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations [Maryland: Assurance, 1980], pp. 755-56).

Ripley's thought is nice but untrue. Never was love made manifest by as great an expenditure of time and effort than when Christ died on the cross for man's sin! God's love for us is immeasurable. And when we return our wholehearted love to God, we love Him more than any man could even love a woman. Likewise, we don't express our love to Him by writing "I love you" over a million times, but by a life of obedience.

Focusing on the Facts

1. The sweetest of all human emotions is ___________ (see p. 1).

2.What is the difference between the normal kind of human love and the kind of love Jesus spoke about in Matthew 22:34-40 (see p. 1)?

3.How did the Pharisees react to Jesus' silencing of the Sadducees (see p. 2)?

4.How did the Pharisees fulfill prophecy when they questioned Jesus (see p. 2)?

5.What is the definition of a scribe and why might Matthew have used a different word to describe the lawyer (see p. 3)?

6.What was different about this particular lawyer and the rest of the Pharisees (see p. 3)?

7.True or False: The primary authority in the history of Judaism has been Moses (see p. 4).

8.What did the Jewish leaders believe about Jesus' teaching (see p. 4)?

9.How did the Jewish people conclude that Scripture gives 613 separate laws to obey? Is their method of arriving at that conclusion valid (see pp. 4-5)?

10.Did Jesus respond the way the Jewish leaders wanted Him to? How did He respond to the lawyer's question (see p. 5)?

11.What is the meaning of the word love in Deuteronomy 6:5? What is its equivalent in the Greek language (see pp. 5-6)?

12.The love Jesus speaks of in the greatest commandment is the ___________, _________, and ____________ form of self-sacrificing love that each person is commanded to have toward God (see p. 6).

13.What are the four aspects of loving God? Explain each (see p. 6).

14.What is the distinguishing mark of the Christian (see p. 7)?

15.What is the definition of a hypocrite? Why were the Pharisees seen by Jesus as hypocritical (see p. 8)?

16.Redeemed people are always characterized by _____________ (see p. 8).

17.True or False: There was a time when God commanded externally motivated obedience apart from internal motivation (see pp. 8-9).

18.Describe what the love that God wants is like (see pp. 9-10).

19.What is the first step in loving God the way you should? What is the next step (see p. 10)?

20.What is second great commandment and how is it like the first (see p. 11)?

21.What is the message of Matthew 22:40 (see p. 12)?

22.What is God calling for in Matthew 22:37-40? If someone is deficient in those areas, what should they do (see p. 13)?

23.We do not express our love to God by writing "I love you" over a million times, but by a life of ________________ (see p. 13).

Pondering the Principles

1.When asked in Matthew 22:36, "Which is the greatest commandment," Jesus responded, "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Man is commanded to love God with his entire being. Do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? If your answer is no, ask God to allow you to love Him as you should. Focus on the twelve points describing the love God wants (see pages 9-10). Take one a month and ask God to make each one a reality in your life for that month.

2.The greatest commandment would be incomplete without the second, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This allows us to channel God's love to others. Do you love others as much as you love yourself? When they have needs, do you seek to meet theirs before your own? Memorize Philippians 2:3-5 and begin to love others as you love yourself.

Added to the John MacArthur "Study Guide" Collection by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 314
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986