This blog post will explore the real meaning behind life in the Bible. It is often said that the purpose of life is to “love God and love your neighbor as yourself.” This quote comes from Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27, and James 2:8 respectively.
In Love With The Creator
In the Old Testament, God made a mighty covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 22:17 He says “By your descendants, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
That is to say that through Abraham’s offspring (which came to include Jacob and his children), all people will be blessed. Later God makes a covenant with Moses where He says “I will be your God and you shall be my people if you obey my voice and keep my covenant.” (Exodus 6:7)
This is one way that the Bible talks about life…being in love with the Creator. Loving Him back for everything He’s done for us. The whole idea of the covenant is God’s promise to love us, and our promise to love Him.
Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself
In Mark 12:31 Jesus says that loving God includes loving your neighbors as you would love yourself.
In Luke 10:27 He says that this is a great commandment. In Matthew 5:44 he says “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
This is another way that the Bible talks about life. Loving people back in return for what they’ve given us. When Jesus said to love our neighbors as we would love ourselves, He was not just referring to our physical neighbors but also to our spiritual neighbors.
I’m sure that many of us have felt different emotions about these two types of neighbors throughout our lives. This is okay. We are to love them both the same anyway.
Why? Because it’s what God has commanded us to do! Loving Him and loving people back for everything they’ve given us is where life is. That is the whole purpose of our lives on this earth.
Mark 12:30-31 says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The first part of this verse means to love God with everything you’ve got inside of you…all your heart, all your soul, all your mind.
The second part of this verse means that you are to love people in the same way that you would love yourself.
If loving God is what life is about, then loving people is how we show Him our love for Him.
So when it says in Mark 12:31 that Jesus says this is the greatest commandment it means that loving God and loving people is what life is about.
It makes perfect sense when you begin to understand the Old Testament covenants of living in love with God. Loving Him back for everything He’s done for us, then loving others in return for what they’ve given us gives us the meaning of life.
God never intended for us to go through this life alone. He wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (love Him back) then turn around and do the same thing for others in return for what they’ve given us. This is God’s perfect plan since the beginning of time.
When we do this we will see things that we’ve never seen before and feel emotions that we’ve never felt before because this is what life was intended to be like…a party!
A loving relationship between God and humanity, and a loving relationship between humans back for what they give us.
Life should not be about trying to please God simply because we want to avoid hell.
It should be about loving Him back for everything He’s done for us, and about loving people back for all that they’ve given us.
If you are still here then I hope this was helpful. God bless!
Life Is Unconditional Love
In 1 John 4:8, it says that God is love.
This means that God is unconditional love or perfect love.
The whole reason we were created is to be in a loving relationship with our Creator where He loves us and we love Him back for everything He’s done for us. That was the whole idea of the Old Testament covenants. Living in love with God.
But then something happened that changed everything. We messed it up!
Our relationship with God was broken by our sin (our selfish ways) and the only way to fix it was through the sacrifice of Jesus who died on the cross for us so that we could be forgiven…so that we could reconcile our relationship back to God.
Now that we have been brought back into a loving relationship with God it is our job to live in love with Him and also to live in love with people back for all they give us.
Unconditional love means that no matter what you’ve done, who you are, where you come from…God loves you unconditionally.
Now that we have been brought back into a loving relationship with God it is our job to love Him in return for everything He’s given us and then love others in return for what they’ve given us also.
Frequently Asked Question
How Can I Love Others When I Don’t Feel Like It?
By understanding that God is unconditional love and He created us to be in a loving relationship with Him where each of us loves the other. He wants you to learn how to love people back for everything they give us. Loving people isn’t always easy…it takes practice and perseverance.
If you don’t feel like loving others, then think of something that they’ve done for you and tell them to thank you in return for what they’ve given you and God will give you the strength to do it again tomorrow. Over time, doing this can develop your ability to gain a heart of unconditional love which will help you to become a better person.
It is important that we learn how to love people first and then we can learn how to love God back for everything He’s done for us.
How Do I Know If My Relationship With God Is Real?
First of all, you must understand what we were created for…to be in a loving relationship with God where He loves us and we love Him back for everything He’s done for us. So if you have a relationship with God, then you will love Him in return for what He’s given us.
Now that we have been brought back into a loving relationship with God it is our job to live in love with him and also to live in love with people back for all they give us.
When you are being moved by unconditional love, then that’s your evidence. God is moving in your heart to do things that will bring Him glory and help others the way He helped you. The more you do these things the more God gets His glory…and the more people see God in us.
So if your relationship with God feels real, then it probably is…and the proof is in the fruit of love you produce through what you make a habit of doing.
If your relationship with God doesn’t feel real, then maybe you should think about why and try to work on it.
In order to love God, you must know who He is and His love for you. So spend some time reading the word…it will give you a better understanding of God.
What Does Loving People Look Like?
By understanding that God is unconditional love and He created us to be in a loving relationship with Him where each of us loves others. He wants you to learn how to love people back for everything they give us. Loving people isn’t always easy…it takes practice and perseverance.
It is important that we learn how to love God first and then we can learn how to love people in return for what they’ve given us. If you understand this, it will help you love people.
