Love the Lord Your God

James 2:14-26 (New International Version)

Faith and Deeds

14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Tonight the pastor talked about this passage. The object of faith is to deeds that impart life. If I don’t back up faith by my actions, that faith is dead.

As I was driving home, I started thinking about this passage:

Matthew 22:34-40 (New International Version)

The Greatest Commandment

34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

In relation to the previous passage, I wonder if it works like this:

The greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Initially, loving the Lord God is based on faith but just like loving another person, there has to be action behind it. That’s in part where “Love your neighbor as yourself” comes in. As one step out and learn to love people, his/her faith is stretched, skills are built, and faith is reinforced. As faith is reinforced, love for the Lord God becomes deeper and maybe a little more of the heart, soul, and mind become engaged in loving God. And as that happens, then one is more willing to “Love their neighbor”. It’s all intertwined.