Luke 10:27 (NKJV)

²⁷ So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’

I’m sure there are many that can quote this scripture with no problem but I believe many of us have not realized the true meaning of what Jesus meant by this.  It’s not that it is so theologically deep that we misinterpret it but few of us look at is as the answer to many of the world’s problems.

As we look on facebook, television and newspapers this scripture resonates with me more than ever.  It answers the question that most are asking today, WHY?  People are being dehumanized, cops being killed, economic crisis, sex trafficking, terrorist groups, lack of healthcare, corrupt judicial system, political corruption, and the list goes on and on.

I don’t think the answer to these problems are going to be solved in a day by one person but again the root problem is in the scripture above and I believe the strategy to solve these problems are in God’s Word.  However, I will only deal with the big picture in this blog.

First, as Jesus tells us that the Ten commandments have been replaced with these two commandments doesn’t mean that the 10 commandments were never relevant but if we obey these two we definitely won’t have to worry about the others.  If we truly love God and love ourselves the right way then we definitely won’t kill, covet, harm people, and do things that are against God’s Word.

Loving ourselves doesn’t mean be narcissistic but it does mean valuing yourself to the point where you take care of yourself, value your contribution to society, and want to see good things happen for yourself and others. However, most of us are so into ourselves that we rarely consider the quality of life of others but often are bitter when others don’t consider our lives.

This generation is carrying so much bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness that it is producing crimes and crisis around the world at a high rate.  I know we tell people to treat others like we would want to be treated but the problem is there are many that don’t love themselves because they have been so traumatized and abused by life that their own lives mean absolutely nothing to them but we expect them to love others.  How can I love you when I don’t love me?

As I close this blog maybe the answer to why is we don’t love or value ourselves and don’t know how to because many haven’t seen the model of true love.  My suggestion is for every person to study how God loved and model it starting with ourselves, family, and the world around us and see the impact that love has on an atmosphere.  Love yourself with a pure heart and then start loving other around you and it will make a difference.  Jesus loved so much that he SO loved the world which means he was able to love to a level the he could look beyond the differences, faults, and actions of people and love them with a pure heart. Imagine a world that could say SO to life’s difficulties and love anyway. I think the headlines would surely change. Stevie Wonder said it best, Love’s in Need.

Let’s live abundantly,

LORENZO JANUARY