One Thing:
Of the three kinds of love in the Bible, philia, aros, and agape, the first two are love from emotion or emotion saturated love. The third, agape, is emotionless- a decision to act lovingly.
The greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30, Deut. 6:4-5). With every fiber of our being, as Pastor Tony said. This is the agape love. To decide to love God, follow Him-whether we feel like it or not.
Agape love always aims to benefit others, for the building up of others, to fulfill them, to better them. It is a decision of will to seek God, know Him. It is a cognitive, willful following of God .
OH! So the other two loves are considering our benefit out of loving that person, but agape is to love someone for their benefit, to aim at filling them up!
As Pastor Tony said, "If this is the major thing to do, the thing above all else that we need to make sure we do and we don't do it, we're in trouble!! But God…!" Ephesians 2:4,5 --The greatest BUT in all of history!!! (As we know, the word but basically negates everything that came before it. For example, "I don't want to be negative, but ______" means "I don't want to be negative, but here I go anyway…"
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
We are to love God with all we've got!! But God has provided a way for us:
Ephesians 2:1-3
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
But God…!
…has made a way for us! …has given us the victory!...has set us free from the bondage of sin!
Praise the Lord! Thank You, Father, for saving me-even when I was an enemy of Yours, lost in sin…You made a way and saved me. To God be the glory! Father, glorify Your name!
Let's go back to Deuteronomy 6:4-7
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one![b] 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
This is where God gives the command to agape love Him (which actually benefits us). Here Pastor Tony pointed out that we are to first have this relationship with God and then we are to teach this to our children.
Our #1 priority is to love God with all we have and our second is to teach this to our children. Our #1 priority is not to be a parent, but to love God, then be a parent. Loving God makes us way better parents anyway!
Leslie Leyland Fields stated in her book Parenting is Your Highest Calling and 8 Other Myths, "If I pursue God first as my highest call and am satisfied in His love, then I am freed not to love my chidlren less, but to love them rightly."
Father, glorify Your name. AMEN!
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