Is Love Really That Important to God?
A Book Review for New Harvest Homestead
The Most Excellent Way, by Jerry Corbaley
By Norma McClary

I’m new at book reviews, so bear with me as I share with you a recently published book that has the potential of not only changing the way you understand both the Great Commandment and the New Commandment (Matt. 22:35-40), but also how this affects every facet of our relationship with God and others. I have been saved by a loving God, and know Him as my Lord; I have found in this book a very clear, and long-awaited, description of this love.

My husband and I have had the blessing to meet Dr. Corbaley, and to enjoy the pleasure of hearing him speak. Further, we have sat under his counsel during a very difficult situation in our lives, which indirectly affected him as well, as situations can when individuals share fellowship in the same Christian community. We found his counsel to be of great value to us, because it was delivered with humility and compassion. His approach was direct, truthful, loving and restorative: his writing is no less so.

In the Preface he writes:

“Our Creator gives spiritual insight. We depend on Him for the ability to understand anything from His point of view. This book is for those who have totally surrendered their own wills to the Lord Jesus Christ. Until you have done so, this book never can be more than an interesting point of view that points out the hypocrisy of individual Christians. To the humble, it is much more than that.”

While reading this book I was struck with the truthfulness of placing God’s love at the forefront of my faith. Upon salvation I knew immediately that I was in the presence of a love I had never known; the truth of scripture leapt out at me as I read, and with the Holy Spirit’s guidance I began to realize God’s incredible love for us. Looking back through nearly 30 years of walking with Jesus as my Lord, I realize that gaining a better understanding of God’s love would have saved me many painful, burdensome trials. This book is a gold mine of God’s greatest gift to us – His love. I invite you to come dig a little with me.

Dig deeply and ponder this: if loving God and others, according to God’s definition of love (see 1 Cor. 13), really IS the most important, ie. greatest commandment in God’s sight, how does that impact our relationship with God? “Overemphasizing the importance of the Great Commandment is virtually impossible,” writes Dr. Corbaley, as he opens this careful and insightful guide to a better understanding of God’s love.

Let’s explore further the truth of what it means to respond to a loving God! How do we receive what He brings into our lives - the unexpected blessings He has for us? Are we patient, or do we rant? Why is patience listed first? Are we kind, or do we shake our spiritual fist and spurn His best for us? How DO we love God?

I’m digging painfully deep here: I desire to be loved; by my husband, my children, my friends, and well, just about anyone else! How do I respond when they are unloving toward me? In love? I can be woefully weak in this area. How can I respond in love and mean it?

In closing, I routinely sign letters and emails with the words “In Love,” not because I desire to lift myself up as having grasped this incredible truth, but as a reminder to myself that I speak/write my words “in love” – God’s love.

The Most Excellent Way will take you through a basic understanding of His love and plan for us, carefully describing how our American culture has affected our understanding of God’s love. Then, Dr. Corbaley carefully uses Scripture to arrive at a clear definition of what love is and is not. He moves on to approach the difficult issues we face with personal and group confrontation, the church, friendship, marriage and parenting – all in the light of God’s love.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, let’s consider what a gift of love this was to us – God gave US His ONLY begotten son. May He bless you with His love – our greatest treasure!