Love Directs Our Use of Resources
“Love the Lord your God with all…. Love your neighbor as yourself….”
(Matthew 22:37,39)
It’s really entirely what the Lord requires of us: to love him fully and to love others as ourselves. That’s it. That’s the sum and substance of all God’s commands. Jesus says so.
Grasping that is hard enough. Applying it is much more difficult. Consider your money, for example. Would you spend all your money on the Lord? Isn’t that what complete love requires? Would you spend half your money on others? Wouldn’t that be loving your neighbor as yourself?
Jesus managed that kind of love! Imagine it! Everything Jesus desired and declared and did served his Father. That righteousness is yours – and you need it! – as you trust in Jesus. And Jesus loved others more than himself. He put us – all of us! – first, when he perished for us and for our salvation on that bloody cross.
Would you spend all your money on the Lord—and half of it on others? Maybe you come closer than you think. If you faithfully and economically handle the responsibilities God has given you, that too is spending on him and on others.
Still, doesn’t true love for God and for our neighbor also mean more generous offerings from most of us?