Undisputed — Over The Commonwealth - Monday
Today’s Verse
Luke 10:27
The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (NLT)
Easter was 3 weeks ago, which means we have eaten all the Peeps, Reese's eggs, taken our spring pictures, and spent time with our families and friends. As fun as all of those things are, I want us to stop and reflect. Have you continued to focus on the resurrection as much as we did on that Sunday? Or, once the holiday was over, did you resume your normal schedule and life? I want to challenge us this week to dive into how His resurrection continues to affect our daily lives and the people surrounding us. How we love our neighbors displays Christ's love for us and what He has done for us. Before we talk about loving our neighbors and what that looks like, I want to highlight the first part of today’s verse: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” It is no coincidence that he put that part first. If we do not love God with ALL of our heart, we cannot possibly understand what it means to love our neighbors. In order to love our neighbor, we must understand and receive the love of Jesus, which was greatly displayed on the cross. If you were to ask yourself, “Does my life reflect that the God I believe in died and rose again for me? Does my life reflect the love He has given me? Does my life reflect the identity He has given me as a child of God, or does it reflect the stress, the worry, the comparison, the idols, or the lies I tell myself? Do I try to love my neighbors out of my own strength, pride, or guilt instead of seeking Him first and loving people as an outpouring of what He is doing and has done in my life?”
REFLECTION
Start this week by listening to At the Cross and reflecting on His love for you. Make Ephesians 2:8-9 your prayer this week: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”