Faith: Reagan had a wise philosophy

President Ronald Reagan once said, “Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.”

I love that quote. It reminds me of the kind of life we can live as we walk with Jesus. It’s not complicated. We have a focused goal at the church I pastor — to love God and to love people.

That may sound familiar to you, as it is what Jesus said when asked “which of the commandments is the most important?” He said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Loving God and loving people ... these are both challenging and rewarding. Loving God is usually much easier than the second part of Jesus’ command, but if we start with loving God, He will help us with the loving-people part.

When we come to realize the ginormous greatness of God’s love for us, we can’t help but love Him also; as the Apostle John wrote, “We love Him because He first loved us.”

I encourage you to take President Reagan’s advice: “Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.”

Louie Locke is the pastor of Fountainhead Foursquare Church, 3690 U.S. Highway 395. For information, go to www.ffcwired.org.