WHAT Do You MEAN, "LOVE The Lord..."?

When I was still a Catholic and, then, converted to a group, which later confessed to be a “cult,” and even when there was a great change in the said group and it was accepted in the evangelical circle – I could not yet grasp so much the meaning of love.

My general understanding before of the command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind…” (Luke 10:27) is just to serve God and even the readiness to sacrifice for Him above all things.

However, before I decided to leave the group that I became a member for more than 27 years, I was able to review the so called “love chapter,” which I read actually so many times before -- 1 Corinthians 13, especially verses 4-8:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”

And I noticed in verse 6 the “ingredient” of love I missed for so long.

It says, “Love does not delight in evil but REJOICES with the truth.” Yes, love is not only, patient and kind… etc. It also REJOICES!

The command “Love the Lord your God…” gives me a new and even wonderful meaning. I could now relate it with other Scriptures, like Philippians 3:1, “…REJOICE IN THE LORD!”; Philippians 4:4, “REJOICE IN THE LORD always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”; and Psalm 37:4, “DELIGHT yourself IN THE LORD…”

Now, the greatest commandment gives me a new and fascinating meaning.

It seems to sound like this:“DELIGHT and REJOICE in the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”!

If we love God, we delight in Him. We rejoice in and with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who is the Truth.