"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor, as yourself." Galatians 5:14
If there is one thing I have found to be true in my life it is this: I must love God with all my heart, as He commanded in multiple scriptures, before I can love myself or anyone else. I cannot produce within myself a selfless love, as He did, without His love. We have to first experience true love before we can give it to others.
There is the age old question I heard often in the 70’s, "What is love?" There were alot of ridiculous definitions thrown out to our young generation with searching minds and hearts, but they weren’t true. I eventually found the truth in my Bible and through earnest prayers asking God for truth. In 1 John 4:16 we read:
"We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
Abide means to dwell or remain. So as you can see we must do as John said, we must abide in His love. Therefore, we must focus on loving God, before we can love others as ourselves. Input is output. What we fill ourselves up with is what is going to flow out of us to others.
The verse that follows Galatians 5:14 is:
"But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another."
We can observe the truth of this verse as we look within ourselves, within our families, and certainly within our nation. There is an answer for all the turmoil and conflict we are experiencing. It’s not new. The truth has always been before us since the creation of man. History is our teacher. As we follow mankind throughout history there are no new sins. History continuously repeats itself. When man is not governed by God and His ways it results in what we see in our nation today, dictatorial tyranny. There is no greater power than God Himself, and God is love. We were all created with a deep need for love. It is a love that we do not have apart from a very intimate relationship with the One who created us. We were made in His image. God the Father has a great need to be loved also. He created us for fellowship. We were created to be loved by Him first and foremost. It is the most crucial relationship in our lives. It bears repeating — your relationship with Christ will define all other relationships in your life. The whole law is fulfilled in one word – love. God is love. Let us drink deeply from the well of living water and quench the thirsting souls of those around us.
In His love.
Teresa Roberts
Masterpiece Fitness
276-237-6680
A few of my favorite things! Dirt roads to run on that provide solidarity and the sights I love.
