Love, Commanded and Commended

FEB love series

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, He replied it was the commandment to love God and that loving one’s neighbor was a close second. The question some would raise as an objection to this is, “how can you command love?” Isn’t love, if it is to retain the true character of love, something that is given freely, without coercion or by force of command? Is love genuine if it is not the spontaneous response of the heart to another person?

If love were something that was opposed to the best of our human nature, something that was harmful, odd, incongruent with what we are; then yes those would be valid points. But our nature commends love. We are made to love and, when we are closest to the way we were designed, love suits us. It fulfills us.

To command love is like commanding the thirsty man to drink or the starving man to eat. We are commanding what they desire and need most. To love God and our brothers is to do what we were made to do. The command to love is like the starting pistol firing for the sprinters in the blocks waiting to explode down the cinder track. It is akin to the dog who lunges and leaps forward when his master gives the command to come.

Being commanded to love is being commanded to do the very thing the human heart was made to do.