The Love of the Cross

Matthew 22:37-40, NIV

37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."


The Cross is the essence of Christian faith. The Cross is the culmination of God's love. The vertical line of the Cross signifies loving God, and its horizontal line signifies loving our neighbor. When an expert in the Law asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment in the Law, Jesus spoke about two commandments.


1. Loving God (vv.37-38).

While living in this world, the most important thing is to love God. The God of love sent His only Son Jesus to this earth to save us who were born in sin and destined to die. Jesus left His heavenly throne, came to this earth as a human being (Ro 5:8), and died on the Cross to save us (Eph 2:4-6). God’s great love forgave our sins and gave us eternal life and hope for the eternal kingdom of God. We who have received this marvelous love should love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind (Mt 22:37-38).


2. Loving your neighbor.

Our love for God should be expressed by loving our neighbor (Mt 22:39). Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Loving God must be expressed by loving our neighbor and brother (1Jn 4:20-21). Just as God made His true appearance through the love of Jesus on the Cross, so we should show that we are true believers and love God by loving our neighbor and brothers. A life of loving each other shows that we are living a true Christian life (1Jn 4:11).


3. Practicing love.

We must practice the love of the Cross. True love is sacrifice, to put love in action. To practice love is to share the grace we have received with our neighbors (Isa 1:17; 58:7). Christians can live a blessed life by loving their neighbors. God blesses us so that we can share His blessings with our neighbors (Lk 6:35). A life of sharing with our neighbors is a rewarding source of happiness and true meaning in life. We should remember the grace of the Lord and learn to do our best to practice love.


Loving God and loving our neighbor are not different things (Mt 22:40). They are the same. Love is the fulfillment of the Law (Ro 13:8-10). When we stand before God in the future, we can say, "I did love." Therefore, all of us should make a decision to love others, and put love into practice all our life.