"Loving God More" - 2

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) Not that I thought I could, but what do you think Jesus meant? As I was thinking about what I asked yesterday about for what purpose I would gladly give it all away, and whether it would be for Love, I was struck by a thought: What love would I be after? Oh, where do I start? I believe that we are to love God first and foremost, which is what Jesus commands; however, when it comes to loving others, well, let's just say that it is a reflective love. As odd as that may sound, it is the best description I could come up with at the moment. For the most part Jesus is talking about Love with the statement being made in this opening verse, because in the five verses prior to this statement, He is talking about loving our enemies; if you have been able to do that, then you know what I am talking about. However, leading up to and following these verses, Jesus is speaking about attitudes of the heart: what is really going on inside of us. The famous 'Sermon on the Mount', for which many catch phrases, both rightly and wrongly quoted, come from. This portion of the Sermon has to do with loving our enemies, but if you really think about each and every verse the has to do with this Sermon on the Mount, from verse 5:3 all the way to verse 7:27, they all have to do with the attitude of our hearts, or where our hearts are. Do you love your enemies? That is not a trick question, but one that requires some heart searching; because saying that you love your enemies, and loving your enemy are two totally different lights. For example: if I say I love my enemy, and even go out of my way to show them that I do, yet in my heart I wish that they would be struck by lightening, then what have I proven? But you might be saying, "Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord", so why not wish God would strike them? But that was just the point Jesus was making here; we are to bless and pray for our enemies, not curse them. This really goes beyond just treating them well, it really gets into the heart of the matter, which is our heart; do we do what we do for man's recognition or for God's? Which just so happens to be the next subject of His Sermon, 'Seeking God's Approval' in giving, prayer, fasting, and where our heart makes it's home. All of these require the same thing to make them happen, our Love for God! And when I say Love, I really do mean All love; which is a little complicated to get into, but it requires our loving Him more than anything else; let's just leave it at that for now... "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of man, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in Love, may grow up into Him in All things, which is the Head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in Love." (Ephesians 4:13-16)