Intentionally

“The second is this:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Mark 12:31

Sometimes the best place to begin is where you left off.  

We do it when reading books and reconnecting with friends, so I thought I would try it with writing devotions.  For two months I’ve struggled to consistently turn thoughts into words, but while the freshness of the New Year lingers (yes, my Christmas tree is still up and December’s calendar hasn’t come down), I hereby resolve to read and reflect more, so I’ll start where I left off—in the middle of the two greatest commandments.  

A religious leader had asked Jesus which was the most important of all God’s instructions, but instead of merely replying to his single request, Jesus did what grace so often does—gives us more than we ask for.  The lawyer’s curiosity only covered the greatest commandant, but Jesus followed up the supreme directive—to love God completely—with the second—to love others intentionally.  “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’”(Mk 12:30-31).

The two commandments cannot be separated, for if the first is obeyed, the second will occur.  Our God is a reaching out, relational God, and our passion for Him causes us to care about others.  How we are to do this sort of caring is set straight in the second commandment—“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

What those few but profound words truly mean has been pondered more than a little in my mind over many years, and it wasn’t until tonight that my understanding of the commandment finally seemed a bit more complete as I typed the word “intentionally” two paragraphs ago.  As Christians, we are taught to “die to self” and to be “unselfish,” so the idea of how we love ourselves being the model for how we treat others has always seemed somewhat contradictory and confusing.  But it doesn’t need to be.

At its core, love is more about action than emotion, so instead of pondering our self-passion, let’s consider our self-preservation.  Another way to put it is—how do we take care of ourselves?   The answer is—on purpose.  We intentionally eat when we’re hungry, rest when we’re weary, and wash when we’re dirty.  We intentionally minimize fear and maximize comfort.  We avoid what causes pain and embrace what produces pleasure—on purpose.  We do everything we can to create outcomes in our lives that bring us good and not bad, and we do it all deliberately.  

If you’re thinking, “Well, sometimes I might do that, but often I choose to be weary or uncomfortable or go without a want or wish so that the delight of others will increase and their distress decrease,” then you get God’s point exactly.  You are loving or taking care of others the way you would take care of yourself if you were the only one around.  You are setting aside your own safety, security, sleep, savings, etc. for the benefit of someone else.  You are actively involved for the good of another—on purpose.  Intentionally.  In other words, you are “loving your neighbor as yourself.”

After working through this in my mind and heart, the concept is less confusing but more challenging because instead of trying to conjure up feelings for others, I know I am called to take care of them intentionally and sacrificially.  I am commanded to live up to what the apostle John wrote down, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth”(1 Jn 3:18), and I am to do so deliberately.

Love your God. Love your neighbor. And do them both on purpose.

The better we know the One who cares for us, the better we can take care of others.