“The heart’s natural desire is for the greater good.” -Bob Proctor
So what does that mean?? What is the greater good? and How do we accomplish this great desire to DO GOOD in the world?
I believe the answer to the both questions is found in Jesus Christ’s response to the Pharisee who asked,
“‘Which is the great commandment in the law?’
“Jesus said unto him, ‘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.'” (Matthew 22:36-39)
I have read these words many, many times. In my limited understanding, the message always came across as LOVE GOD and LOVE THY NEIGHBOR being really loud and important with a little after thought of “oh yeah, as thyself…”
Recently, however, as I was pondering my personal growth journey, wondering if I had forgotten what was most important and was becoming selfish by desiring to grow into my fullest potential, I revisited this scripture. This time, my attention was drawn to the “little” words “and,” “like,” and “as.” They suddenly became the boldest and biggest words of the entire passage. Even though I thought I knew what these words meant, I began to see that maybe my familiarity with these words was causing me to ignore their significance. I decided to look them up:
- and: along or together with; as well as; in addition to
- like: of the same form, appearance, kind, character, amount
- as: to the same degree, amount, or extent; similarly; equally
My understanding of what these words meant expanded exponentially!!
‘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.'”
It’s like a balanced equilateral triangle:
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God (the source of all creation, vision, and love) takes His place at the top. He IS love, so without Him, we could neither give nor receive love. In my mind, it makes sense that without US (His children–my neighbor AND myself) God would have nobody to love and His purpose would be for nothing.
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Love can never be selfish. Selfishness is actually the opposite of love, so trying to love only ourselves without loving others can never amount to much.
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Though many may try, it is also impossible to fully love others without also loving ourselves. You simply cannot give what you do not have.
These three little words tell us that all three points are equal. In order to BE good and to DO good, we must love God and other people and ourselves equally. The center of it all–the one thing all three points have in common–is LOVE. Love is the glue, and when we understand this and allow ourselves to balance our efforts in showing love to God, others, and ourselves, that Love becomes the fuel to our natural desire to DO good.
So back to my original questions: What is the greater good? and How do we accomplish this great desire to DO GOOD in the world?
The answer is LOVE! Find and develop the love of God, neighbor, and self, and then apply that to whatever it is you love to do! That is the secret!
