Introducing: Project Love

"What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Ever since the beginning of mankind, this question has been forefront on our minds.  We can only live so long here on earth; what's next?  What must we do to inherit life that never ends?

So often we present the question to those who have no answer.  We seek abundant, never-ending life from the wrong sources – pleasure, happiness, money, possessions.  Life becomes confusing as we seek joy apart from the joy Giver.

But two thousand years ago another man raised his voice in question.  And this man was asking the right Person.

In Luke 10, Jesus heard the inquiry and turned to study the man who asked.  Instead of giving a direct answer, Jesus asked him a question in response.  "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?"

The man didn't miss a beat.  "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.'"

This was confirmed when Jesus responded, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."

Live.

The secret to true, everlasting life was summed up in one sentence:  

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.'

Again in Matthew and Mark  Jesus says the same thing.  Summarizing the commandments from the Old Testament, He lists the first and second greatest commandments.

The most important:  

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  – Mark 12:29-30

The second most important:  

"Love your neighbor as yourself."  – Mark 12:31

Over the last few months, we've been talking about abiding in Christ – the first, greatest commandment.  This is vital.  It's a continual process that covers every aspect of the Christian life.  It represents every breath, every decision, every moment of life.  If we want to be passionate believers in Christ, this is simply something we must do.  We must love the Lord our God with everything in our being.

And once we have "mastered" that (although I'm not certain that it is possible to master such a wonderful thing in only one, short human life), I believe the second commandment will just be natural.  If we love God, won't we love the people God has made?

But we're human.  We haven't perfected the area of abiding in Christ.  Most of us struggle with loving Him our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Thus, we also fail in the second commandment.  We don't love others as much as ourselves.  We're selfish, prideful, lustful, and so much more.  We want to promote our good instead of others (or Christ's).

This is the reason for my new blog series, Project Love.  I want to focus on these two commands but with a direct emphasis on the latter one.  We've talked a lot about our relationship with Christ... but what about relationships with others?  Siblings, friends, family, strangers, blog readers, and others?

My desire for this relationship series is this:  I want to grow in Love.  I want to love Christ with my entire being.  But I also want to love and serve others more willingly.  As we examine many of the relationships around us, I want to see others differently – as unique individuals with dreams, hopes, and futures.  And I want to see them like God sees them – as beautiful masterpieces.

But before that, let's make sure our relationship with God is where it should be.  That's the greatest command after all, isn't it?

Last week my friend Ariel told me that she was starting a similar summer project.  She told me that it would be, "where anyone who wants to join (and myself ;)) make it a major goal during the summer to love waywayway more than we normally do and to spread the Gospel at the same time! We are going to write down our goals for the week about how we want to love, and keep each other accountable, pray for each other, and I'm gonna be having guest posts about love and related things on my blog."

I'm going to join Ariel in this:  Project Love.  Let's use our summer to make a difference!  Let's grow in love, share Christ, and live as His maidservants.  As we learn to abide in Christ, let's also live as He lived and love as He loves.

My goals and posts might not be the same as Ariel's... but together we (and anyone else who would like to join) want to grow in Love whatever that means for us individually!

So there you have it.  The inspiration behind my upcoming blog series.  I also hope to have some guest writers during this summer as well – women and young ladies who are inspiring in their faith and love for Christ and others.  I want to grow and love more.

I hope you'll join us.  =)