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It is easy to be misled by the world.  Good sounding, but incorrect, ideas bombard us from everywhere.

I've been getting lunch at a Chinese takeout down the street since I started working in Gahanna.  Of course, they toss in a fortune cookie with the meal.  I read the "fortune" when I eat the cookie.  A recent fortune cookie I got said, "Our first love and last love is...  Self-love".

Now, this sounds like an innocent, positive, feel-good statement, doesn't it?  But is it?  What does it say about the focus of our lives?  Should love for myself be my first love?

Matthew 22:37-39 says, "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.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

According to the bible:

1. Our first love needs to be God.
2. Our second love needs to be others.
3. This leaves self-love needs to be our last love!

 

How do we know that we love God?

We love him by learning what he says and obeying him.  1 John 5:3 states,  "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous".

He expects us:

1.  To hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
2.  To believe it. (John 8:24)
3.  To obey it. (Romans 6:16)

When we listen to His word, we find that we need to obey him initially by:

1.  Repenting of sin. (Luke 13:3)
2.  Confessing Jesus as Christ. (Romans 10:10)
3.  Being baptized for remission of sin. (Acts 2:38)                 

When we do these things he adds us to his church, just like he did in Acts 2:47.

Then, we need to obey him continually, not by flirting with sin (Romans 6:1), but by fleeing from it (II Timothy 2:22).  For he has promised us that there is a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13). 

When we do sin, we need to repent and pray for forgiveness as we have example in Acts 8:22.

Who is Your First Love?

I would like to close with a thought from my Mother-In-Law as we were trading emails:  "You marry who you date".  I think we could also add, "You date who you flirt with". 

We need to be spiritually married to Son of God as we see in Revelation 19:7 and 21:9,  not flirting with sin, but remaining faithful and spotless.

If your love for God has not been your first love...
If pleasing Him has not been your focus…
If self-love has been your first love and you want to change...

Please make you needs known and let us help.

-- Zachary Van Tassel, March 2001 --