【双语灵修】真实且完美的爱TRUE AND PERFECT LOVE

马太福音 22:34-40

法利赛人听见耶稣堵住了撒都该人的口，他们就聚集。内中有一个人是律法师，要试探耶稣，就问他说：“夫子，律法上的诫命哪一条是最大的呢？”耶稣对他说：“你要尽心、尽性、尽意爱主你的神。这是诫命中的第一，且是最大的。其次也相仿，就是要爱人如己。这两条诫命是律法和先知一切道理的总纲。”

8月30日

真实且完美的爱

“这两条诫命是律法和先知一切（道理）的总纲。” - 马太福音 22:40

童年时，我和兄弟们常在祖母家玩《圣经》百科问答游戏。正是那一张张小小的游戏卡片，启蒙了我们对《圣经》世界与信仰事实的认知：“说出以色列十二支派的名字”、“说出十二使徒的名字”、“按顺序背诵十诫”，时至今日，我不确定自己是否还能毫不犹疑地回答出其中任何一个问题。

然而，我能够对十诫做一个基本的概括。当耶稣面对律法师的试探时，祂早已为我们做出了最完美的示范。祂总结了神所定的两条核心准则，使我们能与神、与他人保持合宜的团契关系。耶稣建基于整个旧约的根基，总括“你要尽心、尽性、尽意爱主你的神，并要爱邻舍如同自己。”（参见《马太福音》22:37-40）

若我们进一步钻研这个耶稣的总结，便会发现那个至关重要的关键字：“爱”。可悲的是，自人类堕落犯罪以来，我们本性的倾向，乃是恨神与恨人。唯有当神更新了我们的心，我们才能真正爱祂，才能生出真正爱他人的力量。而对邻舍真诚的爱，恰恰成了我们真正爱神的明证。

虽然我们对神和对人的爱并不完全，但那作为十诫根基的完全之爱，已在耶稣基督里得到完美的彰显。基督那完全的爱，绝非微不足道的点缀。在我们定意跟随祂的路上，祂那完全的爱，理应成为我们最高的生命标竿。

祷告

我们在天上的父，求你重塑我们的心，使我们能真实地爱你，并爱人如己。奉耶稣的名求，阿们。

Matthew 22:34-40

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30

TRUE AND PERFECT LOVE

“All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” —Matthew 22:40

As boys, my brothers and I often played a Bible trivia game at our grandmother’s house. The game cards helped to hone our knowledge of various facts in the Bible. “Name the twelve tribes of Israel.” “Name the twelve apostles.” “List the Ten Commandments in order.” Today, I’m not sure I could answer any of these questions without stumbling.

I can, however, give a basic summary of the Ten Commandments. When tested by a teacher of the law, Jesus did that for us. He summarized God’s two main principles for living in a right relationship with the Lord and with others. Drawing on the foundation of the entire Old Testament, Jesus said, in effect, “You shall love God with your entire being, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (see Matthew 22:37-40).

If we distill Jesus’ summary a step further, we also find the essential keyword: love.

Tragically, since the fall into sin, our natural inclination is to hate God and others. Only when God has renewed our hearts can we truly love him. We can also begin truly loving others. And when we truly love others, we demonstrate that we truly love God.

Though our love for God and others will never be perfect, the perfect love on which the Ten Commandments are based is perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ. There’s nothing trivial about Christ’s perfect love. His perfect love should be our highest aim as we seek to follow him.

Our Father in heaven, remold our hearts to love you truly and to love others as we love ourselves. In Jesus’ name, Amen.