Mk 12:29 Jesus answered "The most important of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart decisons, with all your soul m/w/e, with all your mind discern-Eph, and with all your strength.'
31  And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.

Loyalty: Hesed (covenantal faithfulness) to God's reputation (glory) and agenda, depending only on Him for our needs and desires
Obedience: we can't have a rlshp with God apart from total obedience to His will, which leaves no room for indulging our desires.
Volitional Valuing: we must choose (synthetic happiness) to value what God values as our highest good and action/attitude determiner
Exclusive Emotional Intimacy: we are unfaithful when we seek our needs from, or set our affections on. anything created/temporal

1. Love is a decision (based on knowledge) and a commitment to self-sacrificially do what is in another's best interest regardless of response Jn 3
1Jn 4:7 love one another, for love is of God...who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Selfish; Our needs unmet; Risk Rejection; Poor self-worth, nothing to offer; No Abiding power source (Vine); Zero sum; repulsive unpleasant

2. Old Command Lev 19:15 You shall do no injustice 16 You shall not go about as a slanderer 17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not support his sin. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. 34 love strangers as self 36 honesty

New Command Jn 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  17:23...I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me. 26...that the love...
Jesus loved pre-cross by leaving heaven, initiating rlshps; correcting their thinking and values; training them to please God and do His will.

Jn 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
1Jn 4:11 if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God...If we love one another, God abides in us...

Eph 4:2 (worthy) w/ all lowliness and meekness, w/ longsuffering, bearing w/ one another in love 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of HS...
Eph 5:1 be imitators of God as dear children 2 and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice...

3. Concl: Mt 7:12 whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets22:40 Js 2:8 13 Enter by the narrow gate...wide..destruction 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it

4. Add 2Pt 1:7 (add to your faith: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance) godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love
Brotherly kindness – an other-centered affectionate love that arises from purified lives sharing and pursuing the life of Christ in unity;purchased by loyally and like-mindedly submitting to one another in pursuing true Biblical fellowship that reflects God. 1Cor 1:10

5. How Rm 13:8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9  the commandments...are all summed up in  You shall love your neighbor as yourself 10 Love does no harm/evil to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. cf Rm8:4

Rm 12:17 repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

1Pt 3:8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

1Thess 5:15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

6. Loyalty to others flows out of God's Hesed (love & forgiveness) toward us Col 3:12 holy and beloved, put on compassion, goodness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Jn 15 Rm 12:10

7. Other-centredness  Phil 2:3 do nothing thru selfish ambition or vainglory, but in humility let each esteem others better/more important than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.  Eph 5:29 nourish cherish

8. Volitional Valuing: we must choose to value what God values as our highest good and action/attitude determiner=the benefit of others

1Pt 1:22 you purified your souls in obeying the truth thru the Spirit for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart

9. Edification Rm 14:19 15:2 each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification 3 as Christ did not please Himself Heb 10:24-25
Eph 4: 25 speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another cf Body

10. Serving and Sharing Gal 5:13 called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but thru love serve one another.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response:
1. Why don't we “naturally” love? How can you make loving others a priority in your life? Why is purity/holiness a prerequisite to love?
2. What's the relationship between trust and love? Do you have to trust your enemy to love them (Mt 5:44)?  What is the opposite of love?
3. Do you have to love yourself (condider youself a person of worth and value) to love others? What can you do to boost your self-worth?
4. Why is being other-centered difficult? If God meets our needs (esteem, worth, value, etc), why would we look to others to meet them?
5. What can you do to tap into God's grace and love so you can share it with others? How can you express your love for others?