A motto for life
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Owen Lynch:
What did I like about today’s passage?
I love the words in 13:9-10, here Paul lists four of the ten commandments given by Moses and also perhaps because Moses actually instituted so many laws, he adds, “and whatever other command there may be”! But Paul’s point is to say that all of the commandments given by Moses are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Sometimes people who read the Bible get confused about whether they should apply the laws and commandments of Moses to their own lives. Jesus was asked the same question and he said this, ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’ (Matthew 22:37-40) In other words, any Mosaic law or command that doesn’t pass through this filter is not applicable.
Thanks Jesus, that’s pretty clear! If you and I were to have a motto for our life - love God and love your neighbour, we couldn’t do much better than that could we?
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
As we finish our read through Romans together, I think that Paul’s words in 13:10, “Love is the fulfilment of the law” sums up the theme of his letter. Remember that prior to his Damascus road experience Paul was an ultra-legalistic, fiercely nationalistic, religious conservative intent on destroying this movement of people centred on Jesus. But his encounter with Jesus was so profound that he became an unreserved devotee of Jesus.
Why was this? Well, I think it has to do with how astonished and grateful Paul was for his own remarkable turn around, 7:24-25 describes Paul’s emotional response - “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” He really was overwhelmed by God’s love and mercy towards him and believed that God’s love and kindness led him to repentance (2:4). I think that Paul’s letter to the Romans shows us simply that God is Love.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
Since Moses, Jesus and Paul urge us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves, I think I need to first ask myself the question: if and how much I love myself?! And if God is love, and I am made in God’s image, then am I love? And if I am love, what does that look like? So many questions!!
Who am I going to share this with?
Everyone at Severn, I think we need to understand more about Paul, so that we can understand more about the Gospel of Jesus, so I’ll base a new boxset series on this.