How can the greatest command be to love God.

acolytes

How can the greatest commandment be to love God? Why did Jesus say to his disiples that he loved them for keeping his commandments?

Doesnt being commanded to do something take away our freewill?

Acolytes

teel

You still have free will to disobey the commandment

Yes, that's only sidestepping. Loving because you "have to" brings us to the JW version of conditional, emotionless love.

As for me personally I take that scripture rather an invite than forcing you to do something.

acolytes

Hi Teel

I used to take the scripture as you did.(Because it was a scripture from the" BIBLE". Any other HOLY book and I think I would have found the scripture abhorant.

My question is not the scripture but the word commandment. (Unless the word COMMANDMENT couldnt be seperated from the scripture?)

Acolytes

wobble

The question was, to Jesus, "which is the greatest commandment in the Law"

The questioner viewed every part of the Law as a commandment I would guess, so Jesus answered him in those terms.

Jesus later said he fulfilled the Law, Paul showed we are not under the Law, only the law of love.

I do not baulk at being commanded to love, I do question almost any other command or rule thrown at me,with a big WHY?

Love

Wobble

acolytes

Thanks Wobble

But whilst you do not baulk at being commanded to love. Do you not think the word commandment takes the love away-

Acolytes

blondie

Actually according to the Bible, John said that we should love humans first before we could love God...wouldn't that make the love of humans more important the love of God? I wonder if jws see that?

(1

John4:20-21)20 If anyone makes the statement: "I love God," and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot be loving God, whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him, that the one who loves God should be loving his brother also.

carla

Blondie, wouldn't a jw define 'brother' as only jw's not the world at large? therefore they think they are following that scripture?

acolytes

Carla I dont think Blondie was replying to my post from a Jehovers Witness viewpoint. Blondie -- Its funny how we interpret scripture. I never read it as you did. I always read that scripture as we fail to love God as we are commanded to. Acolytes

blondie

carla, humans smaller group, humans larger group, doesn't change it. If you don't love humans first, you can't be loving God.

Also, jws are told to love all humans, just less than other jws. Notice the jw definition of hate:

Notice their twisted thinking here: Or loving their relatives less than they love the WTS.

*** w89 1/1 p. 8 The Responsibility of Discipleship ***As they travel along, Jesus turns to the crowds and perhaps shocks them when he says: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own soul, he cannot be my disciple."

What does Jesus mean? Not that his followers should literally hate their relatives. Rather, they must hate them in the sense of loving them less than they love him. Jesus’ forefather Jacob is said to have "hated" Leah and loved Rachel, which meant that Leah was loved less than her sister Rachel.

acolytes

Blondie It is the word"Commandment" Iam questioning. How can you command love? Acolytes

How can the greatest command be to love God.

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