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Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40 Click here to read scripture
Ripley's Believe it or Not asserts that the longest love letter ever written was
in 1875: from a Parisian painter, Marcel de Le Clure, addressed to an aristocrat, Magdalena de
Villeray, both of whom have faded into obscurity. He was so in love with her that he wanted to
write, “I love you” (“Je vous aime” in French) a thousand times for every year, which was one
million eight hundred and seventy five thousand times (1,875,000), of course, in 1875; however,
he hired a secretary to do it. Moreover, de Le Clure did not want to diminish his expression of
love, so he did not tell the secretary to write, Je vous aime 1,875,000 times, but rather, de Le
Clure dictated each Je vous aime separately. Consequently, de Le Clure said, Je vous aime
1,875,000 times and the secretary wrote, Je vous aime 1,875,000 times. To date, no one else in the
world has surpassed making such an expenditure of time and effort to pronounce their love.
That is a nice thought, but it is simply not true. In the first place, God loved us in a way that
couldn't be measured when He sacrificed His only son, Jesus Christ. And secondly, when we
love God back with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we love God many times over than
Marcel de Le Clure loved Magdalena de Villeray. We express our love not by “writing” or
“saying” something nearly two million times, but by a life of “doing,” which demonstrates our
obedience to God.
What is the purpose of God's law or commandments? The Pharisees prided
themselves in the knowledge of the law and their ritual requirements. They made it a life-time
practice to study the 616 precepts of the Old Testament along with the numerous rabbinic
commentaries. They tested Jesus to see if he correctly understood the law as they did. Jesus startled
them with his profound simplicity and mastery of the law of God and its purpose.
What does God require of us? Simply that we love as He loves! God is love and everything He
does flows from His love for us. God loved us first and our love for Him is a response to His
exceeding grace and kindness towards us. The love of God comes first and the love of neighbor is
firmly grounded in the love of God. The more we know of God's love and truth the more we love
what He loves and reject what is hateful and contrary to his will.
What makes our love for God and His commands grow in us? Faith in God and hope in His
promises strengthens us in the love of God. They are essential for a good relationship with God, for
being united with Him. The more we know of God the more we love Him; and, the more we love
Him, the greater we believe and hope in His promises. The Lord, through the gift of the Holy
Spirit, gives us a new freedom to love as He loves.
In an overlapping sense, there are four channels for love to be perfectly
balanced: an intelligent love, an emotional love, a willing love, and a
serving love, which all comes together to love God with our total being.
Do you allow anything to keep you from the love of God and the joy of serving others with a
generous heart? Paul the Apostle says: “And hope makes us not ashamed; because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).
Do you truly know the love which conquers all?
Based on materials from biblegateway.com, Logos Bible Software, “Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit” by Charles R. Swindoll, compellingtruth.org,
workingpreacher.org, rc.net, Got Questions.org, S. Michael Houdmann, CEO, ripleys.com, gty.org, and myoldradio.com: Ripley’s - Longest Love
Letter Ep.92. CJD 7/6/2014