“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Galatians 5:14
At the heart of all Christian conduct stands the command that we must be a people of love. First and foremost we must be a people who love God. When Jesus was asked “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Mat 22:36) He answered with a quote from Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He then added “This is the great and first command.” So first and foremost, we must be a people who “love God with all we got!” And central to that call to love God is the necessity of obeying Him from the heart (John 14:15).
Then, growing out of that love for God, we must also be a people who love those made in the image of God. Jesus continued by quoting Leviticus 19:18 and saying, “And a second [commandment] is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” So everything God has to say about how we must live our lives before Him and before others can be summed up in the twin commands “Love God and put him first” and “Love others out of reverence for God.”
But how does that work when love for God requires us to hold positions that are considered unloving by the culture around us? How do we love people who openly celebrate what God condemns and expect us to do the same? And how do we demonstrate the kindness of Christ to people with whom we fundamentally disagree about many very serious moral and social issues? And what does that look like in a practical, day to day kind of way?
These are just some of the question we want to begin thinking about this morning as we look at how to apply the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” in the context of an LGBTQ+ affirming world
Seeking to be faithful to Him in all things for His glory!
Pastor Scott
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