Introduce The 3 Hounds Of Hell Described By Howard Thurman

‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two precepts hang all the law and the prophets’ (Mathew 22.37, 38, 39, 40). ‘By this all men know that they are my disciples, if ye have love one to another’ (John 13.35) …’He who loveth God loveth his brother also’ (1 John 4.21) …’If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar’ (1 John 4.20) …The first thing that takes our attention is the saying of Jesus, ‘Thou shalt love,’ etc. (501-2)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Do you ever wonder if what you about to do is right in the sight of God? Do you have questions that you seek answers to from God’s word? We all get in situations when there appears to be no clear answer to satisfy that what we are about to participate in is right. The truth is that oftentimes our life is built around things that aren’t wrong; they just don’t have any spiritual value. We should ask ourselves, “How does this help me grow spiritually?” Is what I am doing or want to do going to benefit me in my Christian life? Will I glorify Jesus by doing it?

As the prophet Micah says in the Tanakh, “He [Adonai] has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness...” (JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, Micah 6:8).

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.

In section five Do rightly to all the things means by being truth to yourself and others. By treating others equally of they are Christians or not. I believe that if you are truthful to yourself you are being truthful to God. Love yourself and don't try to be fake with others and you.God sees the really you.

Those who have the commandment have it in vain, unless they do the commandment; and it will not be done aright unless we take diligent heed. In particular to love the Lord our God, as the best of beings, and the best of friends; and as far as that principle rules in the heart, there will be constant care and endeavor to walk in his ways, even those that are narrow and up-hill. In every instance to keep his commandments. At all times, and in all conditions, with purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord, and to serve him and his kingdom among men, with all our heart, and with all our soul. This good counsel is given to all; may God give us grace to take

One of the most famous homiles that Jesus taught is known as The Sermon on the Mount. It testifies against the Pharisee’s and the law in this time. A section that has stuck out to me was the section Jesus speaks on concerning loving your enemies. Our human nature is to draw near to those who show us affection and give us life. Man kind is also naturally enclined to ostracize from those who bring us pain and discomfort. Jesus goes against all of these native instincts. Matthew 5:44 says, “ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. A life with Jesus and being a true Christian demand’s us to be different. We are to be not of this world, for it will not last forever. The intresting thing about what Jesus is preaching

Application: The thing to take away from this passage is to be mindful and to respect the people God has put in place above you.

The book, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, is a detailed list of Wesley’s journey towards Christian Perfection. Much of this book focuses on the passage found in Matthew 22:36-40, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ‘This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Jesus said, in John 14:21, that whoever loved him would keep his commandments. In John 14:23–24 he said that anyone who loved him would keep his word and the Father would love them. That is great and important truths for us to know, but what is this command of Christ? What is this old

“Loving our enemies means acting in their best interest” (Life Application Study Bible, 2007, p. 1678). Jesus was telling His followers not to allow the way the enemy treated them to impact their willingness to do right by giving, blessing, and

Mark and Matthew both tell us, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:30). This passage seems to be a little bit harder for me to digest due to my non-Catholic up-bringing. I completely agree with Matthew when he tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. I was raised in a home where we watched out for each other as well as those around us. I don’t believe that I know how to love God with all my heart, all my soul, or all of my mind because I don’t feel like I know who God is. I find that I have a lot of questions about who God is and what His role is in my life. Although I don’t have a relationship with God at this time, I believe that relationships can be formed at any point and feel as though I can eventually create some sort of relationship in order to be able to fulfill the commandments that Matthew speaks

Jesus, speaking direct to supreme evil, teaches a vital lesson, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). Keeping the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus is sound heavenly advice (Rev 12:17).

The two-fold commandment of love translates into working for the common good; working for the common good is service.