The Greatest Commandment

Don’t let judgment cloud your love

³⁵  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

³⁶  Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

³⁷   Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

³⁸  This is the first and great commandment.

³⁹  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

⁴⁰  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Matthew 22:35-40 (KJV)

Jesus reminds us that love supersedes all when it comes to the Christian’s way of life. Paul says the following to the Church at Corinth:

¹  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
²  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
³  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NASB)

We Christians live in an extremely judgmental age. The political world seems to be setting the pace when it comes to judging others. Jesus’ harshest condemnation in scripture was of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were quick to judge others by their strict observance of the law. They set themselves up as the religious police of the day and showed no mercy to those who broke the law of God. Jesus’ summary of their form of religion was astounding. He called them “white-washed tombs full of dead men’s bones and sons of snakes.” He said they were “hypocrites.” Quick to judge others, yet not taking into account their own short comings. They were blind to their own sin and self- righteous. In essence they were religious legalists.

We are all sinners saved by grace. Our righteousness no longer depends on keeping all the Ten Commandments or performing religious acts of righteousness. Our right standing before God is dependent on our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. For through faith the righteousness of Jesus is imputed upon the faithful. Someone said “Jesus took our black heart, cleansed it with his red blood and washed us white as snow.” We are not righteous because of the things we have done. We are righteous through the love and mercy extended to us on Calvary’s cross. If we have accepted Christ as our savior, God looks upon our heart and no longer sees the blackness of sin. He only sees the blood of Christ which covers our sin.

Theologically speaking, we are justified in God’s sight by the blood of Christ. Justification is best under stood by these words: “Just-as-if-I-never-sinned.” The love of Christ, and the fact we are sinners saved by grace, should motivate us to show mercy to others who are lost or fallen.

Several years ago I pastored a church in East Tennessee. One evening after church a young teenage girl came to my office in tears. She told me that she had become pregnant. Her family were dedicated members of our church. Her dad was one of my deacons.

I looked at her with tears in my own eyes and said, “Valarie, I don’t have to tell you that you have made a mistake, you already realize you made a wrong choice. I want to tell you that God loves you and he wants to pick up the pieces in your life and make something good out of it. My wife and I put our arms around her and prayed with her and wept.

Valerie married the father and almost 20 years later is the C.E.O. of a home for unwed mothers. She is championing the cause for pro-life and has turned many young mothers away from having an abortion.

Extending mercy and love to those who have sinned can make a huge difference.