Transforming Love

''...and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'' (Mark 12:30)

God writes his heart in the sky, on the earth and in the depths of the ocean. The contents of his heart radiated throughout the universe, yes, the contents of his heart were related to His Miraculous love. Everything in the world is designed by God to direct our eyes to the one truth and the recognition that God loves us and of course, the salvation He gave through His death on Calvary is the culmination of the greatest expression of God's love for us, sinners. 

Everything God does, he does out of love...

Love is given only because of grace alone, and not because we are worthy. That's because the Love of God that we experience should change us or transform us. True, everyone who has experienced His love will surely yearn to love God in return. 

The Scripture passage from Mark 12:30 is the greatest commandments that Jesus himself commanded. The commandment to love God is a very personal, wholesome, and comprehensive commitment because this commandment imply that our entire human being and existence must be dedicated to Him, to God who first loved us and gave us everything, wicked sinners...

This command has basically two fundamental implications:

1. Loving the Lord God Almighty.

Before going to verse 30 about loving God, in verse 29 Jesus recite the Shema / Israel's confession of faith that, God is One. This is an important point before we love God. The church father Athanasius once said, ''since God is one, it is ridiculous to suppose that there could be still another “Lord” of heaven and earth in addition to the Lord who is one. There is simply no room for a second Lord of all, if the one true God fills all things in the compass of heaven and earth (Against the Heathen 6.4).

Thus, verse 29 confirms the passage in verse 30 that not only is God the only one ''worthy of worship'', He is also the only God who is "worthy of love." In other words, since there is no other God but Him, our deepest and foremost love must be directed to the God who has loved, chosen, redeemed and called us to enter into the world. an into the eternal communion with Him.

2. Loving God with the best love

The expression of the ''whole heart, soul, mind, mind and strength'' in verse 30 also shows that the love we give must be the best. Not random love, half-hearted love, leftover love. What needs to be highlighted is the part that follows, in verse 31, that in addition to the Word stating we must love God, we must also love our neighbor. Apparently, these two commands are not viewed separately. Why is that? because one of the best forms of expression of our love for God is by loving our neighbors. Another passage in 1 John 4:20 once said, "He who does not love his brother who is seen cannot love God who is invisible." So as someone who has experienced such great love from God, have we also lived that love? Let us rekindle up our love to others, starting with our closest family members. May God Himself help us. Amen