In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
A certain teacher of the Law asked Jesus Christ: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
It was not an idle question. The Law of Moses has many commandments, and it was necessary to distinguish between the most important and the less significant.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself rebuked the Pharisees for their inability to make this distinction: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law: justice and mercy and faith” (Mat. 23).
Jesus answered the teacher of the Law: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Thus, the commandments requiring love of God and love for one’s neighbour constitute the essence of God’s Law. These two commandments are alike: – St John the Evangelist shows the inner unity between them: “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1John 4)
We should love God in the way He Himself wants us to love Him. The Lord said to His disciples at the Last Supper: “If you love Me, keep My commandments… This is My commandment, that you love one another.”
Therefore, the one who loves his neighbours loves God: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” – says the Lord. (John 15)
The Lord ascribes to Himself what we do for our neighbours. At the Last Judgment He will say to those on his right hand: “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink…I was sick and you visited Me…Verily, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” (Mat. 25)
But what should we do if we find no love in our hearts, but instead we find the opposite: anger and envy?
It is impossible to mount the top of the ladder unless we climb one step after another. The first step of the ladder is to do no evil to our neighbour, not only in words and deeds, but also in thoughts. Not answering back at a reproach, bearing unfairness with patience, taking no offence, not judging behind one’s back – such are the first steps which lead to Christian love. If we force ourselves to do good to our neighbours, God can change our heart and take away its hardness.
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself”. A remarkable quality of our love for ourselves is its endurance. No one knows our failings and sins better than we do; however, it doesn’t diminish our love for ourselves. But in regard to another person we act differently: if we notice in him some unpleasant qualities, our feelings change. We should honour every person as the image of God and love him for God’s sake, despite his weaknesses.
Love for ourselves is implanted in our nature by the Creator; we naturally wish good for ourselves and strive for it. Without this quality no spiritual progress would be possible. The true love for oneself has transformed in the fallen man into self-love, the source of all passions. Self-love seeks only worldly, material advantages and only for oneself, often through depriving neighbours of these advantages.
Self-love is what doesn’t allow us to love our neighbours. This is why the commandment of love requires self-denial and constant struggle with oneself. The struggle with passions is the sign of a Christian, by which a disciple of Christ can be recognized.
The Christian life is a life for others.
Amen.
