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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Last week we started a new series called, “The Night that Changed Everything.” We’re looking at the significance of Christmas, a night that changed much more than most of us imagine. We’ll see its impact on five segments of society:
The Night That Changed the Religious
The Night That Changed the Powerful
The Night That Changed the Poor
The Night That Changed You
The Night That Changed the Wise
This week we’re looking at how it changed the powerful.
This one can be hard for us to see. In Western culture, we’re used to thinking that those who celebrate Christmas are far from powerless. They have long been the majority in Western countries, and the Christian church has been a dominant player in society. Christmas is a visible sign of that power – it’s become a huge part of even secular culture, even if that version is stripped of its truth.
But what actually happened at Christmas was the birth of a baby boy - one of the most powerless things you can imagine. Human babies are so helpless and vulnerable, not powerful except in the emotional control they exert without knowing.
As we saw last week, the baby named Jesus was identified early on as a king – given gifts from Magi, and so on. But unlike Prince George, he wasn’t born in a private hospital with attendants and staff looking after it all. He was born powerless, in a stable, laid in a feedtrough.
And yet, he struck fear in the hearts of the powerful. We’ll look at that story this week.
Question: What scares powerful people?
In preparation for Christmas, our Daily Challenges are going to explore the lifechanging significance of Jesus' birth so long ago. It's more than a sentimental story, or a time for generosity, Christmas celebrates The Night that Changed Everything. We'll explore the original Christmas story from the Bible, and its impact on five kinds of people.
