Compassion Has a Plan

Set priorities. Put first things first. Major on the majors…and don’t sweat the small stuff.

We’ve all heard the slogans. Experts tell us they’re the key to success. But with so many things clamoring for our attention, how do we determine what things to put first? How do we decide what majors to major on…and what small stuff not to sweat?

Those may sound like tough questions—and for many they are. But as born-again children of God, we don’t have to rush out to buy a self-help book or sign up for a seminar to figure out the answer. All we have to do is open the Bible. It plainly lays out our priorities.

No. 1: Believe on the Name of Jesus.

No. 2: Walk in love.

That’s it. God’s Word says if we’ll put those two things first in our lives, God will do whatever we ask and the rest of our lives will fall into place. Personally, I’ve never had a question about the first of those two priorities. It’s always been obvious to me that since faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior is what gives us eternal life and sets us firmly in the family of God, then believing on His Name is the most vital thing we can ever do.

But honestly, I’ve wondered at times about that second priority. I’ve puzzled over why it’s such a major issue with our heavenly Father. Why is it such a big deal to Him that we live in His love?

It is a big deal, you know. In fact, according to the Bible love is such a paramount issue in the mind of God, when one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to name the greatest commandment of all time, He said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Think about that! According to Jesus, the command of love is so vital that the entire Word of God—from the Creation account in Genesis to the Amen at the end of Revelation—hangs on it. Love is literally the ultimate spiritual law. All the operations of God’s kingdom function in accordance with it, and no one on earth is exempt from it.

by Kenneth Copeland