Love your neighbor as yourself.
Summary: Finding God’s heart is easy. All we have to do is love him above all else, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
In sports, the phrase “sweet spot” describes the place on the bat, club, or racket that provides the most control and power.
I am a writer, not an athlete. I prove that every time I pick up a ball. If you play golf with me, you soon discover that there is no “safe” place to stand when I am at the tee. Tennis is another game that highlights my lack of hand/eye coordination.
That said, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while! Now and then, even I hit the ball with the “sweet spot.” What a difference that makes! POW! ZOOM! AMAZING! The ball goes where it is supposed to go and it goes with a grace and speed that is a delight to watch. I can feel the difference in my hands and arms, too. The smoothness of the sweet spot feels right in every way.
The second part of the Greatest Commandment is love. Love is a word that shows up again and again when the Bible talks about God. Love is important. God wants us to be in a loving relationship with him.
Like the center of a bullseye, the heart is considered the center of our being. Physically, the heart keeps us going. Emotionally, the heart is the very center of what we hold dear. Like us, God has a heart, too. The center of his being is what he treasures most. When our hearts align with God’s heart, we are in the “sweet spot” of God’s will.
As we explore Matthew 5, 6, and 7 and examine Jesus’ words in detail, some of the words will describe things that are outside of God’s will and others will point us to things that are inside of God’s will. Some words describe the “sweet spot” of God’s heart and will.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37) and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39) describe God’s will in general terms. These two commandments give us the “Big Picture” at a glance. The Sermon on the Mount gives us the details of the Big Picture, and the Lord’s Prayer shows us the way to God’s “sweet spot.”
Application: Focus on being the person God wants you to be.
Food for Thought: How does having a relationship with God that aligns with the “sweet spot” of his heart change us?
I know for me it changes the way I think; what I do, how I do it, and when I do it. I find myself asking (myself) “Does this further the Kingdom of God? Am I aligning myself to His Will?”
Last night, after I put the wet food down for the cats, I went back into the kitchen to find the cat dishes in the sink. I asked my 4-year old if he had put the dishes in the sink. He (very excitedly) told me he did, and he had given the cats more dry food. Wrong! Totally wrong! He didn’t even give the cats a chance to finish their wet food (lol). But I recognized a sincere desire in my son to please his father. That desire is something to build upon. Instead of getting upset I thanked him, and thought “we can work on this.”
Aligning with the “sweet spot” of God’s heart changes us because we stop viewing others in terms of how they affect us, and instead we view others as how we affect them.
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Chris,
Thank you for sharing another golden moment with your 4-year old. The stories you share bring back memories of raising my own kids, and more importantly you make me smile and fill me with warmth at your response to his foibles.
Being in the center of God’s will brings peace and joy. We all want to hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” In fact, for the believer there is nothing better than that. There is great joy in the center of God’s will and great pain when we are not.
Rich,
Having God’s peace and joy is life changing! 🙂
Like it has been mentioned before, one of the best part of the blog is the comments. At first I was thinking about how “someone” I know does things that others wouldn’t because he thinks a little differently than others. He will do little things here and there not for appreciation from others, but because it delights his Perfect Father in Heaven. Then I saw the comments and realized something,.,.. ” we stop viewing others in terms of how they affect us, and instead we view others as how we affect them .”…….. That’s something that is delightful.
Tim,
Your comment reflects another example of your prayers for “knowledge, wisdom and understanding” being answered. You are absolutely right.
Well, someone makes me smile. And someone tries their hardest to reflect Christ. And someone has some great testimonies of answered prayers. God is using someone to tell people about salvation.
That’s the sweet spot. And that result becomes more important. It becomes enough when other measures of success are not being met. Joy and satisfaction is found, often times by surprise, in these unselfish acts. As an old song says “To love God, to love people, that’s the center of the mark” that’s what will touch a person’s heart.
Living in the sweet spot makes us join in with Paul saying, “for me, to live is Christ” and “I count it all as loss for the sake of Christ”.
10-24-2022, Matthew 22:38, How does having a relationship with God that aligns with the “sweet spot” of his heart change us?
Our transformation into men and women of God is a lifelong process with daily adjustments as we study Gods word and compare our lives to the truths shown in the Life of Jesus, and many examples of Godly men and women given to us in His word. We please God as we allow Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit to replace the ungodly with Godly.
John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Philippians 2:9-11
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.
John 3:16
Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Ron,
Sometimes it feels like we are supposed to stop doing the bad stuff, when in fact, nature abhors a vacuum. As you point out, God replaces (or displaces) the “bad stuff” with the good stuff.
Going out of my way to help someone out, following through with what I believe to be God telling me what to do.
The other day as I was driving by the ballfield I am a sponsor of, I noticed a game being played as my wife and I drove by, a thought runs through my head to stop and donate some funds, after my wife and I dropped off the groceries we went to one of those big box stores and as I was on my way I was prompted to stop and donate, so I did. Then at the big box store on the way back to the car I noticed an older gentleman bending over to help the younger guy out to lift a toilet into the back of the car. I got to him just before he lifted the carton and said that I would help him out, I gave the younger man some help and gave the older man a pat on the back and told him to keep smiling, they thanked me then my wife told me that I was showering people with blessings. It’s just what I do,..
Maybe I was just in the right sweet spot at the right sweet time to do something sweet for someone else.
I have many other instances as well, about just being in the right sweet spot at the right sweet time.
John,
Great stories! Thank you for sharing!!
Your stories illustrate what happens as we get closer and closer to knowing God’s heart. I think his Holy Spirit in us prompts and guides us to situations like the ones you describe. That is a nice connection to have.