Loving God, Loving Neighbor, Loving Self, Loving Life

[MysticMissMisty]

Salvete, omnes!

All right, first of all, I really have no idea even how to ask the following question, so, please bear with me.

We commanded to love the Lord with our whole selves.

How, exactly, do we do this?

I mean, of course, we (and I) love Him deeply for what He has done for us, both in terms of His Ultimate Sacrifice for us and also all the other goodness that He has lavished on us, spiritually, physically, etc.

Still, all the (other) commandments He has given us: Are they not ultimately, when it comes down to it, for our benefit? I mean, He Himself, if you really think about it, is not included in the benefits of these commandments, or, at least, He is not insofar as they do not directly affect Him if we do or do not live up to them. However, our own welfare is indeed affected if we do not obey them. Then, how can we say we are loving God by keeping the commandments, as Christ seems to suggest?

I mean, what I do is, yes, when I think about it, I feel love for God for all He has done, but, to be honest, it’s not something that is always and ever 24/7 at the front of my mind. What is (theoretically) always and ever, 24/7 at the front of my mind is obeying the commandments because I know that God, in them, has my greatest benefit in mind. However, when I think of this, it almost sounds like it borders on selfishness(?), but, at the same time, such an attitude seems appropriate to have, if the commandments have ultimately been created for the goal of our benefit.

Am I approaching “loving God with all your heart/soul/strength/etc.” in approaching God and life this way? Am I missing anything here?

Maybe loving God is doing all the things I mentioned above and approaching things from the perspective I do? Maybe showing love to God is doing all this? Maybe it’s not so much constantly feeling a feeling or thinking on all that He has done for us in a very abstract way? Maybe we love Him by doing what I have suggested? It is still very difficult for me to conceive of this as a direct act of love, though. We do what we do because we know Who God Is and that He is Love and that He Loves us by seeking in the commandments our greatest benefit. Perhaps we love Him by realizing this?

I don’t know. I at least think of love as partially anyway a feeling, that is, of affection that manifsts in action, yet my action is, if I am honest, motivated more by the knowledge that God has our best interests at heart rather than very directly by any feeling of love/affection for Him.

Again, that is not to say that I don’t love Him. I do, very much, based on what he has done for me spiritually and otherwise! It’s just that my following the commandments doesn’t seem directly to stem from that feeling of affection/love, but from knowing that they are the best possible way for me.

Again, is this perspective correct? Or, am I missing some part of this equation?

I do hope I have explained my issue clearly enough in this post.

Gratias.

(Again, if I have posted this in the wrong forum, please feel free to move it.)

 

[pianistclare]

***Love one another as I have loved you. ***

All of the commandments are a manifestation of love for God.
When we forgive, we do it because He forgave.
When we respect, we give honor to the creator by doing so.
When we harm someone, through lying, stealing, coveting, etc. we harm the entire people of God, because we invite rupture. Rupture in harmony, the relationship of mankind with the ultimate peace. We dishonor God because He intends for us to love one another.
This is the purpose of reconciliation. To restore that relationship with God and one another to unity and love. Of course it’s for us. The commandments to not restrict, they liberate, in that they are keys to our holiness. God loves this. The Lord delights in our peace.
This is a foretaste of heaven, where love will about and there will be no rupture, no division.

peace.

 

[MysticMissMisty]

I’m thinking of Jesus’ saying that the first commandment is to love the LORD Our God with all our heart, soul, mind an strength AND to love our neighbor as ourself.

Christ says that the first commandment is “like” the second.

In this, does He mean that they are, in a very real sense, identical, so that loving God is loving neighbor or does He merely mean that they are simply very similar? ARe they even equal or different in weight?

 

[fisherman_carl]

We all are at different stages of our journey. The best example we have is that of Christ himself who laid down his life. This dying to ourselves and living for God and others I think is a process. We are all on that journey to becoming more like Christ. It has to be something God is doing in us or it will not work.

But don’t be discouraged. If your little child gave you a card that says ‘mummy i luv u’ , would you say, oh she doesn’t understand the true meaning of love, so this card is useless? No, of course not. You would cherish the card even if she is too young to have the ability to even grasp what love is. I think God is happy with whatever acts of love we can give him, and from where we are at the stage of our journey.

 

[fred_conty]

“Love God with all your mind, heart, and strength, and love your neighbor as your self.”

Love of God is mind/heart and then strength. Mind and heart means just like a spouse says to their lover, “I love you”. It all oringinates in the heart. One who is loved wants to hear it or see it expressed in some way. Everyone likes to hear the words, “I love you.” It is personal and they need to hear those words. This too we should tell our loveing God who died for us as his love led him to do so. So in our prayers, we should often express our love to him in various ways; thanking him, praising him, loving words, our union with him. And then the second part of expressing our love is by showing it in our life that we honor him by following all his directions which please him. That’s the part about loving God with all our strength.

And then our neighbor, who is a visible other Christ. I believe it was St. John who said, “how can we love God whom we do not see if we do not love our neighbor whom we do see.” It is necessary to love others as Christ loves them.

And finally love ourselves. Because we cannot give what we don’t have. Our image is extremely important, it must be a good one even in times of challenge. But it must be a fair and just image by being a good person. For we can’t fool ourselves. If we don’t carry out love for ourselves by caring what we become, then we certainly won’t care about God or others. So it is important that we always know the love that God bears for us and how important we are in his plan. Even in the times of failure, we must see how much he loves us and realize he is just anxious to welcome us back to his heart. And in that way, we will give out of the abundance of what we are, both to God and fellow man because God lives in us by his grace.