What it means to me, to be a Christian

My dad led me to the Lord when I was almost 8 years old, March of 1973. I can remember it vividly, sitting in the living room on our gold couch, praying for forgiveness of my sins and asking Jesus into my heart, accepting him as my Lord and Savior, but it was not until this last year the importance of that day hit me.

In Matthew 22:36-40 a lawyer asked Jesus what is the greatest commandment, and Jesus replies.

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

That really struck me, that is quite a commitment, do we really love anyone except perhaps ourselves that much?

It hit me, being a Christian, turning my life over to the Lord, is the greatest commitment I could ever make. I should love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul, and all my mind! That is as complete as it gets, there is no halfway there.
Then the second commandment hit me, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Um, hmmm, no one had ever taught me to love my neighbor, in fact, just the opposite. The world teaches us to be wary and on guard against our neighbors. 

Wow, that is powerful, if I love my neighbor as myself, then I would never do anything to harm him, and if my neighbor loved me as himself then he would never do anything to harm me...

I would not lie, cheat, or steal, commit any harm to my neighbors, and whats more,  - Now this is the really important part - I would want my neighbor to have the same gift, the same promise of eternal life, that I have. 

So, I tell you, I love the Lord my God with all my heart and all my soul, and with all my mind. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and I have accepted him as my personal Lord and Savior, I have committed myself to him, and through his Word, God will teach me how to love my neighbor as myself, I will learn what it means to be a Christian.