As a child, one of my favorite words was “why.” I know it drove my parents crazy when I used it repeatedly. Why do I have to brush my teeth? Why do I need to eat those green things? The answer was always the same, “Because I told you so.” There are times when we must submit and do as we are told. Children have little choice in the matter, but as adults we can choose our own course. Jesus tells us to “love one another.” And even in this command, we have a choice. Have you ever found yourself wondering why you have to love that person who seems so undeserving? The answer is because Jesus says so.

Love is so important to Jesus that He summed up all Ten Commandments into two: love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. The Apostle Paul says in First Corinthians 13 that nothing we do really matters without love. But in today’s world, we are confused about love. Movies and television lure us into fantasies about “true” love using sex, guilt and manipulation as tools to obtain love. When we are hurt by someone who says they love us, we begin to wonder if love really exists at all. Is love a feeling or is it an attitude or a behavior? Jesus knew exactly why He had to command us to love each other. Because we would not do it based upon our own feelings. We are human and our nature is sinful.

The only way to keep this commandment is to pray. Pray for God’s love to fill your heart. Pray that you will love your enemies as well as your neighbor (the good and bad). Pray that you will love Jesus more everyday. It is only when we stop asking “why” and start asking “how” that we can truly know what love is.

I missed posting a devotion yesterday and I only have a few more minutes left in today but I felt I needed to share this with you before another day slipped by, weather you read it tonight or in the morning, it will get to whomever needs to read it in the moment they need it. I have been going so much in the past couple of days and after reading this devotion I can recall asking God why, many times, and so I needed this before I laid my head on my pillow and it has inspired me to stop asking why and start saying how. Forgive me Lord, help me to love more and to see past the failures and imperfections of those around me, it’s not nor is it ever my place to judge but to love, love beyond measure.

Have a wonderful day in The Lord!

Today’s Reading is Proverbs 19