The First Love

As this idea of making the love which is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 my DNA has been rattling around in my brain, I have begun to think more about the first love. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:36-40). This was Jesus’ response when he was asked “what is the greatest commandment?”. In a way that only Jesus could do, he gave a two fold answer to what was intended to be a single answer. What this tells me is that these two ideas/commandments are intended to work together.
It is easy to look around at society and point fingers at “Christians” who are not loving people in this way because it is tangible. However, as we focus on an outward love, if you will, it is easy to loose sight of the first love: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Jesus did not leave much room for interpretation or wiggle room about what is more important: loving God with everything we have. Time and time again it has been talked about what this looks like- give your body as a living sacrifice, surrender your thoughts, seek God for advice in daily decisions, etc, etc, etc. And by no means am I hear to say I disagree with any of those practical acts. However, I don’t want to forget that God gave us a definition, multiple times, about what love is.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
So, should this not be the same way that we approach our love of God? To be patient with Him, to be kind, to not envy the choices he might give others, to not boast about the things He has given you that others may not yet have, to not be prideful and think you know how to do it better. To honor Him with our words and actions, to not look at what He can do for us, to not be instantly angry when we do not like the way things are, to remember He keeps no records of wrongs. To not delight in doing what we know breaks His heart. To protect His name and His people, to trust what He tells us, to put our hope in Him, and to not give up on Him despite what the world around us says.
After all, that is the way that He loves ALL of us. What makes this most difficult is that we cannot always see God, at least not in the same way that we can see a person. Of course, one of the ways we show our love for Him is in the way that we treat other people; and that is something God is concerned with. However, what He is most concerned with are the matters of our heart. As you serve those around you, are you doing it with a heart of love? With a heart that is first full of love for God and then serving out of that love? Do you really seek to love God or are you too busy covering up the first love with all the actions of the second love?