Our purpose: Love God and love each other

And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

- Judges 16:20

Samson’s life is one of the most heartbreaking stories in the Bible. He was given a great gift to be used for God but he treated it lightly. Think of what he could have accomplished for God and his people if he had committed his life to God and country.

Gideon and Deborah for instance obeyed God and the people were delivered from the control of their enemies.

But Samson loved women more than God and a woman would be his downfall. What words could be more heartbreaking than, “He did not know the Lord had departed from him?”

In our day, the Spirit will not depart from us because He dwells in us but we can so grieve Him that we suppress Him. The Holy Spirit wants to help us live as we should. He convicts us when we sin. He wants to transform us so we become more like Jesus.

When we ignore His warnings of wrongdoing or His urges to change or to act, He cannot help us as He wants and He is grieved — hurt, distressed. If we continue to ignore Him, His voice will become quieter and quieter until we no longer hear Him or feel His prompting.

How do we grieve the Spirit? Paul says by bitterness (Ephesians 4: 30-32). This is when we hold on to anger because we feel someone has treated us unfairly. It smolders inside us. We hold a grudge and it consumes us:

By rage; outbursts of violent uncontrolled anger.

By anger; a strong feeling of resentment or hostility toward someone.

By harsh words; yelling, speaking with scorn and derision.

By slander; words that harm another person’s reputation.

By malice; the intent to harm another.

If we find any of these in our lives, we should at once repent and ask the Holy Spirit to help us remove them from our heart. Any of these things can put a barrier between us and God. We will not be as excited about our faith and the Bible is dull reading.

Instead Paul tells us to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave us.

All of the things in Ephesians 4:30-32 speaks of our attitudes and actions toward others. The way we treat people affects our relationship with God. When Jesus was asked the greatest commandment, He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

All of the ten commandments are covered in these two commandments. If you read through them, you will see how it is true. You will find them in Exodus 20.

Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments,” and here they are, condensed to two. Jesus streamlines them for us so they are easy to remember. We may not be able to remember all ten but we can remember two.

Jesus says the purpose and plan of God for each of us is that we love God and love each other. Wouldn’t that solve all problems throughout the world? All conflicts would dissolve forever.