The Three Loves

Over the next seven days, we will explore how we live out the three loves at the heart of Christianity - how we love God with all we’ve got, how we love others as we love ourselves, and how we love the world - carrying the good news of Jesus to its farthest reaches.

Today we begin with prayer. Taking a deep breath, I quiet my mind and say...

God, as I become aware of your presence in this place and time, open my eyes to perceive you, realign my mind to believe you, and reawaken my heart to receive you, now and throughout the day to come.

Pause and pray

Today I am reflecting on Jesus’ response to one of the most important questions of faith. God gave Israel the law to teach them how to live as His people. But over centuries Israel failed to live God’s way and ended up losing their land and all God had given them. When the nation returned from exile, restoring Jerusalem and rebuilding the Temple, the people worked to reclaim their national identity and put God’s law into practice. Religious groups, like the Pharisees, came up with complex rules of behaviour, striving to live to the letter of all God commanded.

When Jesus shares which of God’s commands is the greatest, He doesn’t focus on outward behaviour, but instead, goes to the heart of my inward motivation.

When I assess how ‘good’ a Christian I am, do I measure my behaviour and my accomplishments, or do I take the temperature of my desire for God?

I take a moment to talk honestly with God about my motivations.

Pause and pray

How do I actively engage my whole self - my heart, my soul, my mind and my strength - in loving God? What practices or holy habits do I pursue, not to demonstrate good behaviour, but to deepen my relationship with God?

God, are You inviting me to try something new?

Pause and pray

Toward the end of his life, the Apostle John, a close friend and follower of Jesus, wrote, ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God… We love because he first loved us.’ (1 John 4:7,19)

When I’m overwhelmed, or simply not feeling loving, I find fuel for my love of God, my neighbour and the world, by resting in God’s inexhaustible love for me.

Father, I yield to Your love for me. I do not deserve it. I could never match it. But I am continuously grateful for it.

Amen.