Matthew 22:36-40 Master, which is the great commandment in the Law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and 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.
Unbelievers often ask me how I would feel if I died and woke up to find that God isn’t real. They suppose that I would feel like my life was somehow deprived for living according to His will. As if I grudgingly gave up a sinful lifestyle, denying myself any sort of pleasure in order to follow Him.
Living His way isn’t torturous. We do not feel like we are missing anything by living according to His standards. If our devotion to Him was done unwillingly, if we begrudged Him a changed life, then we would be merely hypocrites. How could we be said to love Him with all our heart mind and soul if we did not willingly follow His ways? Just as He laid down His life for us out of His love for us, John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life so we should laid down our lives for Him, out of love for Him. Matthew 10:37-38 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.