You all without exception love yourself. You have this passion to be happy, passion to be fulfilled, passion for things to go right,

passion not to be rejected by others, passion to be significant, satisfied, secure, in danger and fulfilled.

You love yourself.

There is no exception in this room.

What makes the commandment to love our neighbor so radical and how can we practically fulfill it? In this episode of Light and Truth, John Piper turns to Matthew 22, 34 to 40,

to explore what transforms self-love into love for others. The sermon was originally preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church on May 7th 1995.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself is a very radical commandment.

Very, very radical.

What I mean when I use the word radical is that this command when Jesus speaks this into our life cuts right to the root.

That's where you get the word radical.

Right to the root of sinning.

And exposes the root, and by God's grace severs the root.

That's my prayer that that will happen this morning that

this commandment will go right to the root of our sinning. It will expose the

root, it will sever the root. Now what's the root of all sinning? The root of all

sinning is the desire to be happy apart from God and apart from the good of others in God.

The root of all sinning is the desire to be happy apart from God and apart from other people's happiness in God.

And when Jesus speaks, love your neighbor,

as you love yourself,

he cuts right to the root of that sinning.

And Jesus speaks the word into that and cuts right to the heart of that root with this commandment.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

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