Bible Snack #50

​For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another (1 John 3:11).
 
The Israelites had so many laws to follow because they had no spiritual connection with God. Their spirits were dead. When Adam sinned he died spiritually, which eventually led to dying physically, but the most terrible thing that happened to Adam was that he was no longer directly connected to heaven. He had to wait for God to come down to walk and talk with him because he no longer had a spirit into which God could speak. We do. Jesus gives us a new spirit at our new birth, and we have an instant connection to God Himself!
 
Therefore, we don’t need all those laws, and now we only have two to follow—both of them concern love. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. That’s one. That’s easy in comparison to the second. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. That’s hard.
 

First, of course, is that we have to love ourselves. Amazingly, self-hate is a prominent state in our society. But after we overcome that hurdle, we have to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Our neighbors aren’t always easy to love. God is a most lovable Daddy. Our neighbors quite often don’t want to love us back, so loving them can become a trial.
 
However, when we practice loving them at all times and in all circumstances, like we would do with our children, it’s amazing how love can change all things.