We are called, as followers of Christ, to make much of God, but in nearly the same breath, we are also called to make much of others. If we find that we can worship our Lord, without much thought for those around us in pain or in need, then something is off kilter. Conversely, if we find ourselves so caught up in the cares of this world, the injustices, and the heartaches, that we begin to miss the story that God is telling, we are likewise off kilter.
The love of God should fuel, and ignite, our love of others. The grace of God, poured out in our sinful lives, through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, should spill out of us to impact those around us. And the power and presence of the Holy Spirit within us transforms us and empowers us to live for God as lights in the dark and broken world.
In other [better] words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 22: 37-40).
The Gospel of Jesus Christ sets us free to live out these two great commandments, to love and make much of God and, to truly, love and make much of others.
