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Holly3278
Guest
My boyfriend who is a poorly catechized and non-practicing Catholic does not understand why we should love God more than family. How do I explain this to him?
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Aloysium
Guest
God is Love, in Himself as the Triune Godhead from which and through which all comes into existence. He is the Source of all there is and the love which binds us to each other. It was in disobeying God, turning from Him in original sin that we also turned from loving one another. Where we would find love, we encounter the mistrust, the need to dominate and the fear of domination, that arises from our selfish pursuit of taking the the love we should be giving. It’s something like that - a difficult and ongoing battle to truly love. We cannot do it without the grace of God. That’s my two cents anyway.
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TimothyH
Guest
We owe our existence to God. God holds my family and I in existence from moment to moment.
My family is not able to make me exist by an act of their will, nor am I able to make them exist by an act of my will.
-Tim-
My family is not able to make me exist by an act of their will, nor am I able to make them exist by an act of my will.
-Tim-
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Purgatory_Pete
Guest
God** is** family.
:tiphat:
:tiphat:
F
fhansen
Guest
Yes God is family, and the source of all families and all other goods! He’s the ultimate good and to the extent that we place that good above all else, above all created things, our priorities are straight, and our own integrity and perfection follow suit. Loving God less than anything else only makes us less complete, less just, less of who we were created to be.
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Mardi_M
Guest
Holly, we love God also in unselfishly loving our family members and other people.
Remember Jesus said in Matthew 25
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Remember Jesus said in Matthew 25
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
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Memaw
Guest
If it wasn’t for GOD, we wouldn’t even have our family! Simple as that! Loving God first, helps us love our family even more that we would otherwise. God Bless, Memaw
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Rbaker
Guest
All of the above answers seem correct to me. We can show our love for God, through our love for our family, friends, etc.
“whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
“whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
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esieffe
Guest
Without God, there would be no family! 
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Mary_Ellen
Guest
And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me…"
— Exodus 22:35-40
In the Old Testament we are told by God that we are to have nothing in our lives before Him - no other gods. The commandment goes on to say we are not to make and worship idols. Other gods and physical idols of the Old Testament were indeed worshipped by other tribes and nations. In our lives today the lesser gods and idols are those things we hold in such deep esteem that they come before God in our lives.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
— Matthew 22:35-40
Here in the New Testament we see that Jesus puts love of God before love of any human person. This is the order in which we need to order **our **love: God first, others second.
Jesus also tells us that we are not given in marriage to one another in heaven, that the human marriage covenant is not eternal. However, the union we have with God, as individuals, is meant to be eternal. Human marriage and other relationships are just a foretaste of the relationship we are to have with the Triune God. That is the first relationship we must focus on, our relationship with God, all other relationships come after that.
This is not to say that our human relationships are not important. We are all part of the Body of Christ and, as St. Paul reminds us, one part of the body cannot tell another part that it is not needed. We are all in this together but each of us has an individual path to God. We cannot save one another - only Jesus does that. We can, however, help one another along in our spiritual journeys. A husband’s job is to help his wife get to heaven but he cannot sacrifice his own soul for the sake of any other thing-or person. Without his own ‘connection’ with the Almighty he’s of no use in helping someone else.
It’s all a matter of priorities. Many things are important to us but God must always hold first place.
— Exodus 22:35-40
In the Old Testament we are told by God that we are to have nothing in our lives before Him - no other gods. The commandment goes on to say we are not to make and worship idols. Other gods and physical idols of the Old Testament were indeed worshipped by other tribes and nations. In our lives today the lesser gods and idols are those things we hold in such deep esteem that they come before God in our lives.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
— Matthew 22:35-40
Here in the New Testament we see that Jesus puts love of God before love of any human person. This is the order in which we need to order **our **love: God first, others second.
Jesus also tells us that we are not given in marriage to one another in heaven, that the human marriage covenant is not eternal. However, the union we have with God, as individuals, is meant to be eternal. Human marriage and other relationships are just a foretaste of the relationship we are to have with the Triune God. That is the first relationship we must focus on, our relationship with God, all other relationships come after that.
This is not to say that our human relationships are not important. We are all part of the Body of Christ and, as St. Paul reminds us, one part of the body cannot tell another part that it is not needed. We are all in this together but each of us has an individual path to God. We cannot save one another - only Jesus does that. We can, however, help one another along in our spiritual journeys. A husband’s job is to help his wife get to heaven but he cannot sacrifice his own soul for the sake of any other thing-or person. Without his own ‘connection’ with the Almighty he’s of no use in helping someone else.
It’s all a matter of priorities. Many things are important to us but God must always hold first place.
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GEddie
Guest
Because family, although joined by DNA and normally by life memories, are still people with separate lives from ourselves. Families become estranged, or geographically divided, all the time.
Whereas God is, or should be, “nearer to us than breathing, and closer than our hands and feet.”
ICXC NIKA.
Whereas God is, or should be, “nearer to us than breathing, and closer than our hands and feet.”
ICXC NIKA.
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eddie_too
Guest
God loves us more than our family loves us.
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Memaw
Guest
We worship God which is above all others we love. God Bless, Memaw
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steve_b
Guest
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment,
Jesus answer shows a hierarchy of love that must be in place.
Mt 22: 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 And he said to him, *“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ** 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”
Our first love is always for God. THEN comes our love for others. But love of God always comes first.
*
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