Jesus told us that the two greatest commandments are to (1) love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and (2) to love our neighbor as ourself. Life truly is all about loving God and loving people.
Of course, our love is simply a response of God’s love for us. We love Him, and others, because He first loved us. As we receive God’s love, we can begin to accept ourselves, even in our imperfect and frail state. This then enables us to love others … as ourselves.
Unfortunately, many people struggle to love others because in reality they hate themselves and have no love inside to give out freely to others. Unless we know that WE are loved, we will find it difficult to truly love others.
2,000 years of religious tradition have imbedded in us the mistaken belief that God’s love is something we earn. Giving that up isn’t easy.
Religion is all about what we have to DO to earn our way to God. Christianity is totally different. It’s all about what Jesus Christ has already DONE for us.
Now, that’s good news! … think about it.