Matthew 22:37-39 - Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." If we were to do a study on the ten commandments given to Moses in Exodus 20, we would discover the truth of what Jesus say's in the verse above. The first four commandments are dedicated to loving God first. The last six commandments are dedicated to loving others, and putting them above ourselves. You will not find any commands in the Bible to love yourself, because we already know how to love ourselves. Jesus proves that when He says to, "Love your neighbor as yourself." In fact, God ties the way we love self to the way Christ loves the church. Christ loved the church so much, He died for it! Lets take a brief look at the Ten commandments and the Words of Jesus... Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me." Jesus Said... Matthew 4:10 "Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only." Exodus 20:4 "You shall not make yourself an idol." Jesus said... Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters." Exodus 20:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord Your God." Jesus said... Matthew 5:34 "Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne..." Exodus 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." Jesus said... Mark 2:27 "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Exodus 20:12 " Honor your father and your mother." Jesus said... Matthew 10:37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder." Jesus said... Matthew 5:22 "Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement." Exodus 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery." Jesus said... Matthew 5:28 "Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery..." Exodus 20:15 "You shall not steal." Jesus said... Matthew 5:40 "If someone sues you for your tunic, let him also have your cloak." Exodus 20:16 "You shall not give false testimony." Jesus said... Matthew 12:36 "Men will have to give account on the day of judgement..." Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet." Jesus said... Luke 12:15 "Be on your guard for all kinds of greed." Phillipians 2:3-4 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself. The world may tell us that the love of self is the most important need of human life. But, the Bible clearly teaches that we must love God first, and others second, putting ourselves last. Jesus taught in Luke 9:23-24 that we must "deny self" to find Him and the true meaning of life. We will never be able to understand God's Word, having the Bible come alive, using God's Word to overcome our problems, until we first understand the facts on how to love, and the order in which our love must manifest. John 15:11 - Jesus said... "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete". When things are going well, we are happy. When trials come we tend to fall into depression. But the true joy that comes from a relationship with Jesus transcends the current circumstances. We should be able to walk through adversity without sinking to deep lows, and manage prosperity without moving into deceptive highs. We can be filled DAILY - with the JOY of JESUS by following this simple acronym. Jesus First Others Second Yourself Third If you want to truly experience the Joy and Peace that comes from a relationship with the Lord, this order must remain...
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