Love is all you need?

For awhile have been wondering what is my purpose? While I was pondering this our preacher talked about the end of Ecclesiastes in one of his sermons. "...here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."

Okay so what are his commandments? Jesus said himself; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." This seems fairly easy. I love God, that is why I go to church and worship him. I love my neighbor, or at least I don't hate them.

I think that I love but what does Jesus say it means to love?

For God so loved the world that he GAVE his one and only Son,...

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she LOVED MUCH. But he who has been forgive little loves little.

The reason my Father loves me is that I LAY DOWN my life -

But love your ENEMIES, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love ONE ANOTHER.

My summary of the list above is this : Jesus believes that love is giving of yourself, forgiving much, willing to give your life, caring for my enemies as well as other Christians.

UMM...maybe I don't love as much as I would like to think. I tend to take care of myself first then make room for family and friends and sad to say fellow Christians and God seem to be sitting in the 3rd row of my Christan SUV. For myself forgiving seems to come easy. Not saying I'm perfect on that part but grudges don't linger and I can't really sit here and tell you one thing someone has done to hurt me in the past that I am holding on to. As far as life giving.....I like to think I would make a stand for Christ and God if called upon but there is a nagging suspicion that I would lie and run like Peter did if I truly felt my life was on the line. I guess only having the situation forced upon you will you know the answer to this question. Now for caring for my enemies and other Christians. I can't say that I care for my enemies, that is kinda what makes them my enemies. This must not have scratched the surface of my Christianity deep enough for I have not shed a tear for a dead Taliban or Al-Qieda member and my soul doesn't ache for the militant God hating atheist that knows not God. As far as caring for other Christians, I could always do better but try and serve others, but then again I've stated above where they fit into my priorities when compared with my own self interest.

If your are wondering the point of this post, These are the first and second commandments according to Jesus himself. Numbers three through ......... are out there but not numerated nor given a quantitative value by Christ. However these are the two greatest and it appears that I have enough work to do with these two so anyone wanting cast stones for how services are conducted, how much works is enough, or any numerous other things that Christians fight about go right ahead. I have my hands full figuring out how to love appropriately. I'm not saying that there are not things worth standing up for but I am going to start trying to remove this huge plank from my eye and once that is done then I will try help my fellow brothers and sisters with the sawdust in their eyes.

The conclusion of the matter? Maybe the Beatles however misguided were right. "Love is all you need".