It is seemingly so much easier to love God theoretically than it is to love man practically. But the Bible will have none of it with both the Old and New Testaments saying the measure of a person’s devotion to God is found in his/her devotion to serving man. In the Old Testament there are repeated admonitions to remember the poor, even with a special tithe devoted to their needs. Additionally, the stranger in Israel was to be beneficiary of mercy.
In the New Testament Jesus put a sharp edge on this business that the way we love
our fellow man is a direct reflection on the way we love Him (consider Matthew
25:40). Then He flatly said, “By this all men will know that you are my
disciples if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). In his first epistle John hit this matter so
unequivocally as to leave no doubt about the correlation between loving man and
loving God: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar,
for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom
he has not seen. And this commandment we
have from Him: that he who loves God
must love his brother also” (I John 4:20, 21).
So, are you hungering to know more of God? It’s O.K. to follow those spiritual
disciplines like Bible study, prayer and fasting but the real “pay off” from
these should simply be foundational for the real “pay off” in getting to know
God—finding people to serve. Even in
this you must be careful of your motivation, lest it become a worthless,
self-serving act that alienates God.
The world is hungering to see the love of God unleashed in
selfless-service. Ask God to open such a
door of service to you.
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