SMC Podcast Pursuing Relationship Part IV

Before I get started today, I want to start with a small experiment or exercise. 

Let’s play pretend and imagine that you have 30 days left to live? 

This may seem morbid or even uncomfortable, but I promise I’m going somewhere. So just for the sake of this imagine as if you only have 30 days left.

Now that you’ve got this idea in your head let me ask you a few questions.

What will you do now? What will you do now that you have 30 days to live? Are your priorities different? Will your conversations be different?

But the main question I want to ask you is: Will you love differently NOW because you only have 30 days to live? Will you love differently? 

Will you love completely? Will you love completely and how do we even do that?

Jesus talks about loving completely in the passage we will read this morning found in mark 12.

But let me set the scene as to what’s going on right before our scripture.

Jesus is among some crowds, and He is teaching about the authority He has from Heaven (Mark 11:27-33), 

He presents the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mark 12:1-12), 

He speaks about giving and taxes (Mark 12:13-17), 

and He speaks about marriage and Heaven (Mark 12:18-27). 

Jesus is teaching the crowds and in the midst of the crowds, the Pharisees and Sadducees were asking questions and were trying to trap Jesus. 

It was during these trapping and sly questions that a person genuinely seeking an answer comes up to Jesus. Let’s read.

MARK 12:28-34

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ’Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." 32 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”

A teacher of the law came and asked a genuine question. In Jesus’s teaching, we find the answer to ‘how we love completely.’ 

Jesus points out three aspects of love that when combined form a complete love for our lives. 

Jesus teaches that we should love God, love others, and love ourselves.

These three are components of complete love.

I. LOVE GOD COMPLETELY

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