Jesus Upholds the Law
Jesus was considered a great teacher of the Torah (the first five books in our Old Testament). His ability to teach those books amazed even the most educated priests and Pharisees.
In Matthew 22, his apostle writes about when He was in Jerusalem talking with the spiritual leaders of His day and handling the hard questions they asked. Jesus had just settled a question asked of Him by the Sadducees (a spiritual sect), and was now facing the Pharisees who wanted to test and trap Him.
One of the Pharisees asked Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Jesus answered them by saying:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39 ESV
If anyone could sum up the law of God it was Jesus. He made it clear that those who believe in God will first love Him with their whole selves, and second, love those they come in contact with as themselves. This was what the law depended upon.
The only way we will love other people well is if we first devote ourselves to loving God and allow ourselves to be loved by Him. Growing in love for God involves intentionally spending time in His Word, having honest conversations with Him, and reflecting on His character every day, throughout the day. Showing love for God looks like doing what He commands—and that includes loving the people around us the way that God loves us.
So in what ways do you already love God with your heart, soul, and mind? And what steps can you take to love those around you today?
Healed by His Wounds
Brokenness. We see it all around us. We experience it ourselves—in our relationships, in our dreams, in our bodies. And yet, something happened over two thousand years ago that still has the power to heal that brokenness.
1 Peter 2:24 says, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."
Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, took the weight of our sins upon Himself. He carried them to the cross, giving up His life not because of His own wrongdoing, but because of ours. This is the essence of the Gospel. Through His sacrifice, He offered us a path out of darkness and into His light—a life transformed by His grace.
Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we’ve been given a profound healing of our spirits; new life taking the place of sins and darkness that separate us from God. Through His wounds, we are offered forgiveness and a new relationship with God, healed and ...