This calling impacts any leadership position
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"And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31).
What happens when the cultural mandate, The Great Commandment, and The Great Commission collide? Simple: we find our purpose and calling as followers of Christ.
Recently, we talked about the Cultural Mandate to bring flourishing to the world through our work. Now, I want to focus on the Great Commandment.
In Mark 12, Jesus is asked by a teacher of religious law what the greatest commandment was. What was his answer?
Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This sums up the law and the prophets.
So basically, in two sentences, Jesus summarizes the entire Old Testament.
It was always about love.
God created humans because of love. He caused them to multiply because of love. He gave them work because of love. In fact, 1 John 4:16 says, "God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." So, it makes sense that the way people would know that you love God is when you love people.
Does your work reflect God's love? Too often, as Christ followers, our work behavior doesn't match our Christian behavior. Too often, our behavior doesn't reflect this Great Commandment to love God and love people.
When you see that Jesus summarized 800-900 pages of the Bible in two sentences, did the significance of his statement resonate with you? The commandment is to love.
 | Jim Brangenberg is an established leader in the faith and work movement who has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and business owner. In 2013, God called him and his wife, Martha, to begin the iWork4Him Talk Show, where they have had the privilege of challenging thousands across the globe with the simple message that your workplace is your mission field. In addition, he and Martha have co-authored a series of collaborative books, iWork4Him, sheWorks4Him, and iRetire4Him. Learn More » |
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