Freedom Calls

As children of the one true God, saved by Grace and Faith in Jesus Christ, we are called to live according to His commandments.

Let’s explore the significance of two crucial commands found in Scripture –

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it” (Joshua 1:8) and “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).

The command to keep God’s Word always on our lips and meditate on it day and night is not merely a suggestion but an imperative.

As Joshua 1:8 promises, if we follow this directive, we will be prosperous and successful in our relationships. That is where ALL ‘the good stuff’ comes from in our lives. Our meaning and joy is found in loving relationships.

This command is intimately connected to the command to love one another, as both stem from a deep relationship with God and a desire to live according to His will.

Charles Spurgeon observed,

“The Bible was given to us that we might know Jesus, and the better we know Him, the more we shall love Him.”

As we read and love to be in Scripture, we come to understand the depths of God’s love for us, which compels us to love others in return. If you had but one week left of earth and knew that Jesus Himself was coming to take you home to Heaven. How would you love?

Your love would not be merely a sentimental feeling but an active choice to put others before ourselves, just as Jesus did.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “Love consists in knowing and accepting our lack of worthiness.”

When we recognize that we are undeserving recipients of God’s grace and love, we become more capable of extending that same grace and love to others.

This selflessness is at the heart of true Christian love. Being what you consider the most important being in your life is the root of your spiritual deprivation.

A.W. Tozer believed that “what comes into our minds when we think about God is going to shape our prayers.”

As we meditate on Scripture, our understanding of who God is and what He has done for us will transform our prayer lives and our relationships with others.

This transformation is a direct result of the command to love one another.

Watchman Nee once said, “Love is not merely a feeling; it is an attitude of mind, a way of life.”

True love is demonstrated through actions and choices, not just emotions. As we seek to live out this commandment in our daily lives, we must be willing to sacrifice, serve, and put others before ourselves.

Finally, D.L. Moody understood that “the Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.”

As we immerse ourselves in Scripture and obey its commands, we will find that our understanding of God’s love is transformed, and with it, our ability to love others as He has loved us.

The commandments to keep God’s Word always on our lips and meditate on it day and night, as well as to love one another as Jesus loves us, are intertwined.

As we seek to follow these commands, we will find prosperity and success in our lives, not primarily in terms of wealth or status but more importantly in our relationships with others and our walk with God.

May we continually be transformed by His Word and His love, and may that transformation overflow into the ‘broken pain machine’ of a world around us.

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.

This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

There is no fear in love.

But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.

The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

1 John 4:4-12, 18 NIV