It seems that Jesus was saying that loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbor as ourselves was more important than burnt offerings or sacrifices. I Cor 13 is called the "Love Chapter" because it defines what love actually is. God is not expecting us to offer Him animal sacrifices or hurt our bodies to please Him or even give our own lives by death or suicide but rather He wants us to become "living" sacrifices by laying down our lives, our wills, while still living in this world, not only for Him but for others. That is the true meaning of love. Love is the fulfilling of ALL the law. It never fails!!
I'm sorry, firstly, that I made a word error which I have changed from "what" to "was" (noted in red and italics).
Secondly, what I was trying to convey was the fact that in some realms of Islam, it is taught that sacrificing yourself or suicide/murder will yield rewards in paradise but in actuality it will yield nothing. Your motivation must always be based on love to please the One True God.
1Co 13:3 "And if I give all my goods to the poor, and
if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it is of no profit to me"
We all know that we are to love God with ALL our hearts, mind, body, soul etc., but if we do not define what love is, and how love is shown, then one could interpret that to mean "to die for God and dying by suicide to kill the infidel." This is a gross interpretation of what the first commandment is saying. Hate is not a demonstration of love!! So your murder by suicide is not acceptable to God. The command, as Peter points out, is twofold,
Mark 12.28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. 31 And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love [his] neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him [any question].
Also, I would like to point out that IF we are loving the Lord our God Who is ONE Lord then we MUST obey and love our neighbor as ourselves!! We MUST love one another as He has commanded us. Hating is not love. Hating the infidel is not love and is not acceptable with the ONE true God, Who is, "The God of Abraham", "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ", "The Creator of Heaven and Earth". Jesus uncovers where hate, lies and murder come from. Speaking to the spiritual leaders, in that day, who ruled and controlled the people by fear and false morality, and who refused the truth that Jesus was giving them, He said,
Joh 8:44 You come from your father,
the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do.
The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn't know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he's doing what comes naturally to him. He's a liar and the father of lies.
Hate, murder, lies all come from the devil and not from love. Not from God for God IS love. Love is the record that determines whether we know God or not. Love is the record that determines if it is God or not. If it is not love it is NOT God. If it is murder, lies, hate, it is NOT God! God is LOVE and those that are born of God are born of LOVE.
1Jn 4:7 Dear friends, we must love each other because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God.
1Jn 4:8 The person who doesn't love doesn't know God, because God is love.
1Jn 4:9 God has shown us His love by sending His only Son into the world so that we could have life through Him.
1Jn 4:10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the payment for our sins.
1Jn 4:11 Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love each other.
This seems like too great a task, and it is because we can only love when we are
born of God. Since Adam, EVERY man was born into this world apart from God, apart from love. All were incapable of loving with God's love. Though, God created us, Adam's sin corrupted us. We NEEDED a Savior. God provided One. He promised Adam and Eve that He would bring a seed through the woman who would CRUSH the head of the serpent, the devil. He sent Jesus Christ to crush the head of satan and destroy his hold of sin over us and to destroy the hold of hate and lies and murder over us. This hold prevented us from loving with God's love. So in love, God sent Jesus to die FOR us.
THIS was a sacrifice motivated by love!! Motivated by God Who is love! This was a gift of love and a demonstration of love! It was for our benefit to set us free!
Joh 3:16 God loved the world this way: He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life.
Joh 3:17 God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world.
Joh 3:18 Those who believe in Him won't be condemned. But those who don't believe are already condemned because they don't believe in God's only Son. (GW Version)
Rom 5:6 Look at it this way: At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for ungodly people.
Rom 5:7 Finding someone who would die for a godly person is rare. Maybe someone would have the courage to die for a good person. (GW Version)
BUT
Rom 5:8 Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
This demonstrates God's love for us.
Rom 5:9 Since Christ's blood has now given us God's approval, we are even more certain that Christ will save us from God's anger.
Rom 5:10 If the death of His Son restored our relationship with God while we were still His enemies, we are even more certain that, because of this restored relationship, the life of His Son will save us. (GW Version)
The ONE requirement to access that love, the ONE requirement to live above hate, and lies, and murder, the ONE requirement to be "born of God", "born from above", to "become the sons of God", the "sons of Love", is the BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ and HIS sacrifice of love for us! We must believe that God accepted THAT sacrifice and it was payment in full, as if it were us who died on the cross ourselves, and by believing God raised Christ from the dead to NEW life, it becomes our resurrection to NEW life, also!! That is when God accepts us as sons and our rebirth begins. We become the sons of God by believing in Jesus Christ and what HE has done. NO other name in Heaven and Earth can save us. Not Muhammed, or Allah, or any other name, ONLY Jesus Christ. It is not what we can do for God but what God has done for us!
Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world came into existence through Him. Yet, the world didn't recognize Him.
Joh 1:11 He went to His own people, and His own people didn't accept Him.
Joh 1:12 However, He gave
the right to become God's children to everyone who believed in Him.
Joh 1:13 These people didn't become God's children in a physical way-from a human impulse or from a husband's desire to have a child. They were born from God.
Joh 1:14 The Word became human and lived among us. We saw His glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with His only Son, a glory
full of kindness and truth.
Joh 1:15 (John declared the truth about him when he said loudly, "This is the person about whom I said, 'The One Who comes after me was before me because He existed before I did.'")
Joh 1:16 Each of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is.
Joh 1:17 The Teachings were given through Moses, but
kindness and truth came into existence through Jesus Christ. (GW Version)
Gal 3:22 But Scripture states that
the whole world is controlled by the power of sin. Therefore, a promise based on faith in Jesus Christ could be given to those who believe.
Gal 3:23 We were kept under control by Moses' laws until this faith came. We were under their control until this faith which was about to come would be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Before Christ came, Moses' laws served as our guardian.
Christ came so that we could receive God's approval by faith.
Gal 3:25 But now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the control of a guardian.
Gal 3:26
You are all God's children by believing in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 Clearly, all of you who were baptized in Christ's name have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Gal 3:28 There are neither Jews nor Greeks, slaves nor free people, males nor females. You are all the same in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants and heirs, as God promised. (GW Version)
