We Now Love
Should we be tempted to believe we have done nothing worthy of death and therefore have no need of a Savior, we should look again at what God expects of us. He asks but two things: to love Him and others. Follow this carefully. The moment we offend or hurt someone, we have violated God’s laws and become worthy of death.
James confirms this when he says, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10). Even those who willingly choose to avoid people are breaking the commandment to love others.
Our world is messed up not because God wants it that way and has willed it to be so but because of the breaking of these two commandments.
Think for a moment about how people treat one another. Better yet, think about how you relate to those around you. How many people have had a bad day because you were having a bad day? How many times have you said or done something you knew would hurt another person? This is what creates the havoc in our world.
You may think, Sure, I could have been nicer and kinder here or there, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal. I didn’t kill anybody.
The degree of our sin makes no difference. We are still not excused. It’s the trillions of “not so bad” acts that have led to more offensive behavior and a world that’s in terrible shape.
Sadly, we blame God instead of ourselves. Why, we ask, does He allow bad things to happen? But God is not the one who has broken covenant; we are. As Proverbs 19:3 says, “The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the Lord.”
