Andrew Smith's Blog

My name is Andrew. Come and have a look inside my life and watch me share what is on my heart.

Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First: Day 2 LOVE God, Yourself, and Others!


 
Week 7: Day 3 Love

This day had the scriptures verses Mark 12:28-34. These verses described the teachers of the law asking Jesus which command is the most important. Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these” (Matthew 12:28-34 NIV).
 

The first step to love is to love God completely for who he is. He is the Healer, the Creator, the Father, the Provider, our Shepherd, and our Savior. He is the one who sent his only son to take the sins and failures of the world. Sin separated us from God because He is holy. He was beaten, whipped, and crucified on the cross for our sins. He took our guilty and forgave us for our many sins we have committed. All we had to do was repent and know you’re sinners. God has an unfailing love for His people and he isn’t mad at you. He has an unconditionally love for us.

We must learn that we can’t just love Him when we want Him to move in our circumstances. Even when he chooses to wait to answer your prayers when you pray, he’s working on it!

The second commandment is: loving your neighbor as you love yourself. This requires that you must first love who you are. If you don’t love yourself, how can you love someone else? Loving yourself means accepting yourself even though we’re not perfect and until you get to Heaven, you won’t be. You must realize that you have flaws but Jesus still accepts you and loves you. This doesn’t mean that He doesn’t want you to improve and become more Christ-like, he does. Loving yourself means understanding you’re not accident, even if you’re birth wasn’t planned by your parents. When the sperm met the egg that’s when love started! God planned for you and you’re made for a purpose that he wants you to complete. Run the course he has for you!

The second requirement is to extend that love to others that you encounter every single day. This includes the slow drivers you’re wishing would go on, the slow cashiers when you’re in a hurry, your brothers and sisters when they disappoint you, your children when they go down a different path, your spouse when they let you down, your boss when they having a bad day and taking it out on you, and any other people you have a difficult time loving. It’s not easy to love like anything in life it takes effort and time. But LOVE is worth it! Without love where would we be? Would you rather love or spread more hatred in the world, it’s your choice!

 

I am participating in journaling about my experiences in reading Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First By Doug Bender. I will be blogging through four days about the different things I have learned to help promote this life changing book.  The book is available for purchase.

 

If you buy the book during the week of December 9th-15th make sure you email your receipt to the email address promo@iamsecond.com. They want to give you some special bonuses!

 

For all the full details check out:


 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Live Second, check it out on Amazon.com:

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