And The Most Important Thing Is Love
By Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org
Are you looking for a clear purpose in life? Do you wonder, "Why are we
here?" Do you think life is meaningless?
If so, then this is what you are looking for:
"The purpose of life is to please God."
How do we know this? Because the Bible tells us. Our purpose is the same
as the purpose of the whole universe: to please God.
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Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:
for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are
and were created. (Revelation 4:11 KJV)
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"Yes, but maybe it's impossible to please Him," you might say. Wrong. He's
not that hard to please.
"For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people:"
(Psalms 149:4a KJV)
WE HUMANS ARE ABLE TO PLEASE GOD
The following scriptures prove that we humans are able to please God.
1 Chronicles 29:17a - I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and
hast pleasure in uprightness.
1 Corinthians 7:32 - But I would have you without carefulness. He that is
unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please
the Lord:
1 Corinthians 7:34 - There is difference also between a wife and a virgin.
The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be
holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the
things of the world, how she may please her husband.
1 Corinthians 10:5 - But with many of them God was not well pleased: for
they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 - When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it;
for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Ecclesiastes 7:26 - And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose
heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall
escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
Ezekiel 18:23 - Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?
saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
Ezekiel 18:32 - For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,
saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
Ezekiel 33:11 - Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way
and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O
house of Israel?
Ezra 10:11 - Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your
fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of
the land, and from the strange wives.
Haggai 1:8 - Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house;
and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
Hebrews 11:5 - By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death;
and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his
translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he
that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 13:16 - But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with
such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Isaiah 42:21 - The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he
will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
Isaiah 56:4 - For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my
sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my
covenant;
Jeremiah 48:38 - There shall be lamentation generally upon all the
housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like
a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
1 Kings 3:10 - And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked
this thing.
Malachi 1:8 - And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and
if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy
governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the
LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:10 - Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for
nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no
pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an
offering at your hand.
Micah 6:7 - Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten
thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
2 Peter 1:17 - For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when
there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Philippians 2:13 - For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to
do of his good pleasure.
Proverbs 16:7 - When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his
enemies to be at peace with him.
Psalm 5:4 - For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:
neither shall evil dwell with thee.
Psalm 35:27 - Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my
righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified,
which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
Psalm 69:31 - This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock
that hath horns and hoofs.
Psalm 103:21 - Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his,
that do his pleasure.
Psalm 147:11 - The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those
that hope in his mercy.
Psalm 149:4 - For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify
the meek with salvation.
Revelation 4:11 - Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and
power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and
were created.
Romans 8:8 - So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
1 Thessalonians 2:15 - Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own
prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are
contrary to all men:
1 Thessalonians 4:1 - Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and
exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought
to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
Source of scriptures: King James Version (KJV)
So what are some of the things we can do to please him? The Bible is full
of things that please Him and things which displease Him. Read the Bible
and see what He likes and what He doesn't like. Then give Him what He
likes and avoid giving Him what He doesn't like.
But the most important thing is love: He wants us to love other people the
same as we love ourselves.
LOVE FOR OTHERS FULFILLS ALL OF GOD'S LAW
The Bible states it very clearly, so there can be no possible
misunderstanding:
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For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14 RSV)
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And who is your neighbor? Everyone is your neighbor. This is shown in the
Parable Of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).
But what about love for God? Doesn't that come first? Yes, but God accepts
our love for others as if it were love for Himself. So when we love
others, we are loving Him at the same time. This is shown in the Parable
Of The Sheep And The Goats (Matthew 25:31-46).
But what about The Ten Commandments? Aren't we supposed to obey them? Yes,
but The Ten Commandments are only an approximation of what God wants from
us. The Pharisees obeyed all of the Ten Commandments, yet God was very
displeased with them because they did not have love. The exact thing God
wants from us is that we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Everything else is subordinate to this.
But what about holiness? Aren't we supposed to avoid improper sex, etc.
and be pure and chaste? Aren't we supposed to deny our physical selves in
order to strengthen our spiritual selves? Yes, but our feeble attempts at
being holy do not even come close to God's high standards. To Him, they
are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). But if we have love for others, God
will overlook a multitude of our sins (1 Peter 4:8). And if we forgive
others of their offenses against us, He will forgive us of our offenses
against Him (Matthew 5:14-15). Love makes everything holy, since God is
love (1 John 4:8, 4:16).
So all of God's laws boil down to this one command: "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR
NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." If you truly do this one thing only, it is enough.
It then doesn't matter if you fall short on some of the dozens of others.
But if you do not do this, all of the others together are not enough. This
is the big one, more important than all the others combined.
"Love For Others Fulfills The Law"
Galatians 5:14 (RSV)
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
Romans 13:8 (RSV)
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves
his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:9 (RSV)
The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not
kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other
commandment, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
Romans 13:10 (RSV)
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law.
James 2:8 (RSV)
If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.
Proverbs 10:12 (RSV)
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
1 Peter 4:8 (RSV)
Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love
covers a multitude of sins.
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LOVE IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN FAITH
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (RSV)
[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I
am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
[2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have
not love, I am nothing.
[3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but
have not love, I gain nothing.
[4] Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
[5]it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is
not irritable or resentful;
[6] it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
[7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things.
[8] Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for
tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
[9] For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect;
[10] but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.
[11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
[12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know
in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully
understood.
[13] So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is
love.
# # #
See more pages like this, at our Index of Pearls Of Faith, a treasury of
Biblical truths. -->
Blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org
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