Let's look at Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; and Luke 10:27:
37 And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). 38 This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment.
30 And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment.
27 And he replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
In these verses we have three "witnesses" (2 Corinthians 13:1) that we are supposed to love the Lord our God first, and more than, any other person in our lives! In fact, we are told THIS in Luke 14:26:
26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Do you believe that God really wants you to hate your family? Of course not, BUT, the love we have for HIM should be SO much greater than the love we have for anyone else. THAT is the depth of love that HE has for us! Should we even consider giving Him anything less? The Amplified Bible is a little clearer on this verses:
26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple.
The key here isn't to love them less, but to love HIM more! How is that possible? By spending time in His presence. As a born again believer He lives IN us by His Spirit. It SHOULD be easier to spend time with Him than with anyone! The really beautiful aspect of putting Jesus first place in our lives is that we will be able to love everyone else in our lives better because of it! That's how powerful the God kind of love is! He IS love itself (1 John 4:8)! I am ready to make whatever adjustments are necessary in order to do this better than I have. How about you? Remember, love NEVER fails (1 Corinthians 13:8)! AMEN! Here is a fun song from Hillsong Kids called "My Number One":
Shalom in Him!
