Romans 13:8-10
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
To love is to live committed — at all costs and at all times — to another person's complete and ultimate wellbeing. That person is every person we think about or have any contact with.
God is love. I suggest that His supreme joy and blessedness is simply to be Himself — to love. In other words, God doesn't have to do anything to be loving or joyful, by nature of His being He just is that way.
Therefore it seems to me that to love God by keeping His commandments begins with our heart-attitude — with an act of submission, in which we "fear the Lord" by accepting Him as He is.
It is saying to God, "I accept You as You are revealed in Your Word and in Jesus and in all You teach me of Yourself. You need not explain anything to me or change anything in Your ways with me. I love and accept You just the way You are."
Then comes a second act of submission: we love him by trusting Him to "be Himself" towards us — to love us. That is, to fulfill His loving commitment to our complete and ultimate wellbeing.
Ironically, our complete and ultimate wellbeing which God is committed to — our supreme joy and blessedness — is that we also, like Him, live to love.
Consequently we are trusting God to "be Himself" towards us to the extent that we are trusting Him to "be Himself" in us by loving others through us.
It looks something like this.
We pray, "Lord, I'd like to experience Your love and joy."
God replies, "O.k., give your life to Me and walk with Me so that I can love others through you. Then you will know what My love and joy are all about."
