Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

We were talking about wounds last night. Great hurts come to us and we try to find a way to forgive and it isn’t always easy. Then the Lord placed a memory of a deep wound and the part I played in causing it to happen.

It will not always be the case but to deny our own involvement in events will not help bring about the right kind of healing. We hurt and in pain we lash out. We might be justified in the opinion of others but what is the truth between you and God? No one knows the truth better than God. It takes a close self-examination to look beyond the pain to admit when we had some small part in causing the event to happen.

The reason that we need to look at events with detached emotions is to understand the event from a cause and effect scenario. If I had some part in causing the event, if I deny my part, what is to stop me from causing it to happen again?

The victim mentality will always say “I am innocent.” Perhaps you are, but what is the truth? Evil people do evil things but why do friends hurt you? They do not hurt you without cause. What is your part? Family members can inflict the deepest wounds. Does that mean they do not love you? What pain they inflict on you may run so deep into the past that you had no idea of your part in it.

A friend calls it generational sin. It is hurt we inflict because it is how we were hurt, it is normal. Perhaps the greatest lie the enemy has ever told us is that the sin we live with is normal.

Only I can break the cycle.

Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

The question was, what is the first commandment of all, which means which is the most important. So Jesus gives the first commandment. Or did He?

Exodus 20:2-3 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Is that the same commandment? Notice the (:) because Jesus wasn’t finished explaining.

Mark 12:30 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.

What was important to Jesus was to correct Israel’s understanding of the Ten Commandments. They had heard them and failed to obey them because they didn’t rightly understand them. Hidden within those Ten Commandments is a verse which never appears on any list anywhere in all the tablet references located anywhere.

Exodus 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

They leave the love out. Jesus knew how important that love was in the commandments and everyone, even today’s scholars when listing the Ten Commandments, leave out the love. You can argue the importance of the listed commandments all you like, but what is obedience without love?

Obedience without love turns into resentment. Resentment turns into rebellion and that is why Israel kept turning away from God. Israel’s history repeated that error over and over again. It is an error repeated by many besides Israel, even after Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, the ultimate act of love.

God so loved, God loved so, so God loved.

Now it is our turn.