 True spirituality is to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind, and to love one another as ourselves. Matthew22:37-39. When we love God, we would love what He loves also.
Such love is more vital than to be a scholar of the Bible. Knowledge is valuable and indispensable in our life. We True spirituality is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love one another as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). When we love God, we will love what He loves also. Such love is more vital than to be a scholar of the Bible. Knowledge is valuable and indispensable in our life. We need to use our God-given mind to understand and love Him. But knowledge by itself does not bring life. Intelligence even can hinder us in following God if it leads to arrogance. God’s revelation goes to the humble (Matthew 11:25). Having such love is more valuable than serving as a missionary in a faraway land. Without love, even if we give all we have to the poor and suffer, we gain nothing. Without love, even if we have the faith that can achieve great things, we are nothing (Matthew 22:39, John 13:34-35, 1 John 4:20-21, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3). We need to love God more than our own ambitions or money. We cannot serve God and money simultaneously. Note that being wealthy and loving God can co-exist, and rarely do we see a beggar who does not love money (Luke 16:13). But why should we love God? We should love God because He first loves us (1 John 4:19). Meditate on the love of God. In the garden of Gethsemane, Christ was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death (Matthew 26:38). He went through excruciating pain and was crucified on a cross. At one point, even God the Father forsook Him (Matthew 27:46). Christ went through hell so that we would not have to. Ask God to make us see clearly and comprehend deeply His love for us. We should love God because He has forgiven our sins. We have made lots of mistakes, alienating ourselves and hurting others. Our iniquities continue even after our commitment to follow Christ. Ask God to open our eyes to see the seriousness of our sins. The more we realize His mercy in forgiving our sins, the more we love Him because “whomever has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47). True spirituality is to love God and our neighbors. Summarized a sermon by Zac Poonen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3wTy8n4b9g 最重要的诫命 真正的属灵是尽心、尽性、尽意爱上帝, 和爱人如己（马太福音 22:37）。当我们爱上帝时，我们也会爱祂所爱的。 这样的爱比做圣经学者更为重要（马太福音 13:52）。知识在我们的生活中是宝贵，是不可缺的。 我们需要使用上帝所赐的头脑来理解和爱祂。 但知识本身并不能带来生命。智识甚至会阻碍我们跟随上帝，因为满有智识往往会导致傲慢。财富也一样。 尊重穷的人，和他们过着团契生活，向他们学习。上帝启示给谦卑的人（马太福音 11:25）。 有这种爱比在远方担任传教士更有价值。 没有爱，即使我们把我们所有的捐赠给穷人，和受苦，我们也是一无所得。 即使我们的信念堅定得可以成就大事，但没有爱，我们也是一无是处（马太福音 22:39；约翰 13:34-35；约翰一书 4:20-21；哥林多前书 13:1）。 我们爱上帝需要胜过我们的野心, 胜过对金钱的爱。我们不能同时为金钱和上帝服务。请注意，富有和爱神是可以共存的。 很少会有人会看到一个不爱钱的乞丐（路加福音 16:13）。 不过我们为什么要爱上帝呢？ 我们应该爱上帝，因为祂先爱我们（约翰一书 4:19）。默想上帝的爱。 默想基督为我们所经历的一切。 在客西马尼园里，基督被悲伤压碎，几乎要死（马太福音 26:38）。 祂经历了极度的痛苦，被钉在十字架上。 在某一时刻，甚至父神也离弃了祂（马太福音 27:46）。祈求上帝使我们可以看清和深入领会祂对我们的爱。 我们应该爱上帝，也因为祂赦免了我们的罪。 我们犯了很多错误, 离开了祂，伤害他人和我们自己。 即使在我们成为基督徒之后，好大可能我们的罪孽仍未曾不断停止过。求神启发我们，睁开我们的眼睛，让我们看到我们的罪有多严重。我们越能意识到祂的赦免我们的罪, 意识到祂的怜悯，我们就越爱祂，因为“那赦免少的，他的愛就少”（路加福音 7:47）。 真正的属灵是爱上帝和我们的邻居。 |