So what is the connection between loving God and loving our neighbour? If there is real love of God, there will be love for ourselves, and love for our neighbour.
See how complete Jesus reminds us this love for God is meant to be: all our heart, soul and mind.
We are so often tempted to hold something back. We want to love ourselves on our own terms – to love ourselves fully, like we should love God. But that would lead to a world full of Gods, and how would that work out?
Or we are tempted to put these two loves in opposition. I can either be good, ethical, and law-abiding to love God, or I can just love people. The problem with this is that true love of our neighbour flows from the love ofGod. Our love for God leads to love of our neighbours, which leads us to want to act right toward them. Without love for God, and an experience of his love, we each have to define love for ourselves, and we all have different ideas about what love is!
We’ll see tomorrow how Jesus’ self-giving love sets the pattern for our love, while freeing us from the traps of loving ourselves first, trying to use others to earn our salvation, or any other attempt to manipulate God or others.
Question: Define love.
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Today we see why worrying is useless…for us, at least.
We can't make our lives longer. We can actually shorten our lives with worry. The line that Jesus used could even mean making bodies longer…which is definitely not something that happens after adulthood.
God provides in nature - not a direct drop from heaven - but he's readied nature.
UN: The greatest scandal of our age is the fact that just under 1 billion people on the planet go to bed hungry every night. This is despite the fact that we produce more than enough to feed every single person in the world. The problem is not a shortage but rather that the undernourished who need food most cannot access it.
God also provides through others – generosity
God does this in a world where trouble and accidents happen. We will not avoid them. This is not a promise you won’t meet with trouble.
But don’t worry, or become anxious about it. You were made for eternity anyway. Jesus is saying you are much more than that - made for heaven.
Think of a Panda - it eats bamboo almost all the time it's awake. We humans are made for much more than sustenance. In famines, this kind of single focus may be necessary. But this is not the usual condition for us.
More relevantly today in the West, we are meant for more than selfish ambition. We are made for loving, giving, caring, serving.
Question: What has God already put in our world to answer your worry concerns?
