April 29


The Life and Love of Christ


The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.

Mark 12:31 (NLT)


With humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Philippians 2:3 (NAS)


If Jesus was a revolutionary then the Apostle Paul was an extremist in that revolution. Or so it would seem.

Jesus preached love in a new way—don't just love God, but love others as well. And living for God was not something to be shown in ritual and Temple sacrifices and in Synagogue attendance alone. It was more than an annual pilgrimage. To Jesus, living Torah meant a daily devotion that looked beyond oneself and considered the needs of others: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But Paul, it seems, took this to the extreme.

Not only love your neighbor, but love him or her more than yourself. Put their needs ahead of your own. It seems radical, especially in these days where nearly everyone practices “looking out for number one.” But this truth transcends, and Paul caught it. Paul looked at Jesus’ words and saw more. He saw Jesus’ life. He saw sacrifice, and he heard this: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) Paul saw Christ on the Cross as the greatest example of “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And it motivated Paul to go beyond himself, far beyond, and he asks us to do the same. This ... is the life and love of Christ.


Father, motivate us, like Paul, to love our neighbors as Jesus loved His. Amen.