"Established In Love"

He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up reproach against his neighbour." (Psalms 15:3) To some, love is something that is not taken seriously enough, which is demonstrated by the way that they treat others. I find myself convicted more times than I would care to admit, by saying things about others and forgetting the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; that would include those things that you speak about others also! In Luke 10:25-37, we find Jesus approched by someone else that wants to know how to inherit eternal life, this time it is a lawyer; and this is also where we find the story of the 'Good Samaritan'. I wanted to look at the opening verses, and see the answers given to the questions; both from the lawyer and from Jesus. In verse 25, it starts out with, "And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Then Jesus answered him, "What is written in the law? how readest thou?" And the lawyer replied, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself". Jesus then said unto him, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live". If there was any other way for man to be saved besides putting their faith in Jesus Christ, love would be that way. Unfortunately, the kind of love required for such a thing to happen is not present in the human heart. There have been historical figures to which great acts of love have been attributed; however, unless they were saved, they will still stand before God to answer for their sins; one can only hope that their love outweighs the sin; that I leave in the hands of God to determine! One thing that I know for sure, is that Jesus said that He was the way, the only way; and if anyone should try to go another, the same is a thief and a robber. Within John's three epistles, his main focus throughout his message to the church, was love, and how important it was that we love one another. It is said that in John's last days upon this earth, he would address the church by being carried out before them, while seated in a chair; old and frail, John would sit there and gather his strength, and then would say, "Love One Another"; then he would be carried off by the elders. One thing is for sure; John firmly believed that you could not know God and not have love for your brother, for God is love, and there is no separating the two! Therefore; to be a citizen in heaven, one must be established in love; there is no other way to see this, than to see that it is the truth! The next question asked by that lawyer, was one that we should continually ask for ourselves: "But he, willing to fustify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?" (Luke 10:29)