Chris' Christian Blog

Love: Better Than Gold

"Love: Better Than Gold" 


What is better than gold? To answer this question I am not going to come up with some new and profound words of wisdom. Instead I am going to use the teachings of Jesus Christ. One of the most famous of Jesus' sermons was the Sermon on the Mount. If a person were to have no other Bible scripture to follow except the Sermon on the Mount they would be fully equipped to live the Christian life. The Sermon on the Mount is mentioned in each of the gospels with Matthew and Luke giving it the most coverage. However when people think of the Sermon on the Mount most people think of Matthew's version, which is found in Matthew 5 - 7. Jesus spends an entire section of the Sermon on the Mount discussing Earthly treasures. This section starts in Matthew 6: 19 and goes to Matthew 6: 34. In it Jesus essentially says that man's priority in life should not be to focus on material things, earthly needs, and possessions but instead to focus on spiritual matters and service to God. After all when we come into the world we bring nothing with us and even if our possessions are buried with us, as was the practice of many cultures, we will not take them with us when we die. What really counts in life is not how much wealth we accumulate but rather what kind of person we were and whether or not we loved God and man. Many of will state that we love God and most of us love our families. However this is not what God requires. God requires that we love everybody, even those we don't want to love and those who don't love us. In Matthew 5: 44 Jesus tells us that we are to love even our enemies. For most of us that's a hard pill to swallow. After all why should we do good to those who hate us and wish us harm? The main reason we should do so is because God does. God loves everybody because God is love. Therefore God expects us to love everybody too. In doing so we may find that our enemy is no longer our enemy but becomes our friend. How often has a good deed melted the heart of somebody who didn't care for us. The Apostle Paul said "If your enemies are hungry, feed them: if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame," Romans 12: 20.

Love settles all hurts. Thus love is to be man's priority, not greed and the quest for Earthly treasures. What is better than gold? Love is better than gold.