Greetings and peace be with you all,
Although I cannot make any claims for truth; the greatest commandments do not seem out of place when searching for a meaning of Jesus the Son of God. Maybe there are ways to test for meaning by asking some questions; we talk about God’s infinite love for us, but how could God love each one of us more than he loves himself?
you have to understand the word “infinite”. If God’s love is infinite, it does not have limits. We have trouble comprehending this idea because we can not experince infinity. If you try to picture something that is infinite in you’re mind. You’ve already tanted you’re atempt to grow in you’re understanding of infinity. If something is infinite it has no phisical boundrys.
In a way, God loves us more than he loves himself, because he was willing to do what was good for us but not good for him (send his Son to die). In a sort of contradicting way, God loves himself more than us, because he knows that he is the greatest being and retains the power of heaven and hell.
It’s not that God loves us more than himself or the other way around. God has the capaticy to love more than us. God’s love is infinite. Ours is not.
God does not love himself more than us because he knows he is the greatist being. God’s knolage of himself being the greatist being is just that. Something he knows. Not a reasion he loves himself, or a reasion to love us less.
If God really did love me as he loves himself; what kind of a burden would I be to God. If I did not sin it would be easier for God to love me; but every time I sin does God forgive me so that he may continue loving me as he loves himself? In order for God to persist loving me in this way he would need to keep forgiving me many big sins and many repeated sins?
Our status of being a sinner or not a sinner, making it easier to be loved by God, is a human interpration of what love is.
Love, real true love does not have pre-requirements. It’s not real love, it’s not God’s infinite love, IF someone says “I’ll love you unless you do this.” or “I’ll love you only to this point.”
Jesus on the cross said forgive them Father for they know not what they are doing. In many ways I look on Jesus saying this directly to me. Does the death and resurrection of Jesus hang on the greatest commandments?
I think Jesus is leading by example. He is showing us how great his love is by becoming one of his creatures and allowing his creatures to murder him.
God being all knowing, knows we are stupid.And does not hold that against us.
In order for me to love my neighbours as I love myself, should I forgive them each time they harm me in some way? If I don’t forgive them; how can I continue to love them as I love myself? I am a Catholic and if another Catholic harmed my child should I forgive him because he is a Catholic? Is it easier for me to forgive others if they are also Catholic? What if the person harming my child in the same way is an atheist, Muslim, Anglican, Hindu or Jew? Should that make any difference to me, should I also forgive them and keep on loving them as I love myself?
They should forgiven others regardless of there religion because, if we are to ask for forgivness and mercy, we too must give others our mercy and forgivness.
When I harm my neighbour; do I make it more difficult for my neighbour to carry on loving me as he loves himself?
Yes. If you came over and beat me up, it would make it harder for me to love you as I love myself.
It seems the greatest commandments place a huge burden on me; if I strive to live my life through them. Like Jesus I would need to continually forgive right up to death.
Just like Jesus did! “Jesus on the cross said forgive them Father for they know not what they are doing”
Why did Jesus say the commandments are greatest, do they have a greatest meaning in Heaven also? Are the commandments a greatest image of God, and have we been created in this image of God?
I think it has to do with our understanding of who/what God is. God is love! God being infinite, that when God spoke his word is infinite too. With God’s word being infinite, it is everything he is, so much so that his word IS him. This being God the Father and God the Son. Now since the Father and the Son are infinite, there love is infinite. Because there love for each other is so infinite and so real, there love is it’s own person. Hence the Holy Spirit. God is love. So much so we as humans can barely fathom what love is.
If our greatest task in life is to live by the greatest commandments here on Earth, would it also make sense that we should live by them after death? Will commandments like killing, stealing and adultery still make sense in heaven if we are then immortal?
In the spirit of growing together in Christ
Eric
