Love That Shapes Everything: Loving God and Loving Others
At Myrtle House Community Church this week, we continued our journey of exploring what it really means to love God and love our neighbour. Martin O’Brien led us deeper into Jesus’ words in Luke 10:27, where love for God and love for others are held together as one inseparable calling. You cannot truly live one without the other.
Jesus makes it clear that loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength is not simply an inward devotion. It is a love that is seen, expressed, and proven through obedience. In John 14:31 Jesus says that His obedience to the Father shows the world that He loves God. Love is not just something we feel. It is something we live.
To help us understand this more clearly, we looked at the life of Abraham. Abraham’s story shows us how love for God shapes love for people. His obedience produced compassion. His faith produced action.
In Genesis 12 we see Abraham hearing the voice of God and responding immediately. He leaves behind everything familiar and steps into the unknown. This kind of obedience shows us how love for God moves us from being comfortable believers to committed followers. Abraham trusted God completely, even when he did not understand where the journey would lead.
Abraham also expressed his love for God through worship. Time and again, he built altars to the Lord. These were not private moments hidden away. They were visible declarations that God was first in his life. Worship was central to Abraham’s walk with God, and it shaped his identity. When we worship God wholeheartedly, it becomes a testimony to those around us that we belong to Him.
Perhaps the most challenging example of Abraham’s love for God comes in Genesis 22. Abraham was willing to surrender what was most precious to him. Loving God sometimes costs us something. It asks us to trust when it is uncomfortable and obey when it feels difficult. True love for God always invites surrender.
Yet Abraham’s story does not stop with loving God alone. His devotion to God overflowed into love for others. In Genesis 14, Abraham risks his own safety to rescue Lot and protect those who had been taken captive. This is love in action. It raises a powerful question for us. Are we willing to step in and help when others are vulnerable?
In Genesis 18, Abraham shows extraordinary hospitality to strangers. He offers rest, food, and generosity without hesitation. Loving our neighbour often looks like opening our lives, our time, and our homes to others. Hospitality is one of the simplest yet most powerful expressions of love.
Later in the same chapter, Abraham stands before God and intercedes for the people of Sodom. He pleads for mercy on their behalf. His love for others leads him to prayer, standing in the gap for people who could not or would not pray for themselves.
Throughout Abraham’s life, we see a clear truth. Loving God shapes how we love others. Obedience leads to compassion. Faith leads to action.
Martin left us with five important questions to reflect on this week:
Where is God asking you to obey and trust Him in faith?
Who can you protect or help who may be vulnerable?
How can you show hospitality and kindness in practical ways?
Who is God calling you to pray for and stand in the gap for?
Does your love for God clearly shape how you love others?
Jesus reminds us that the world will recognise His disciples by their love. When we love God fully, that love cannot stay hidden. It transforms how we live, how we serve, and how we care for the people around us.
As we move forward together as a church, may our love for God deepen, and may that love be clearly seen in the way we love our neighbours. This is how the Kingdom of God is revealed.
