My understanding of Mark 7:11 in scripture - good vs. better

[jennifer_bloom]

Here I included a snake amulet used in snake rituals

because Jesus talked about how the pharisees judged the Jews who said their devotion to family was a religious ritual and not a self serving social pattern

what Jesus means in the passage is the pharisees denied the love of God but saying self serving humanitarian interest love is superior to selfless religiously derived Christ-centric love

those who love for the sake of God are according this passage superior to those who love for the sake of self interest or for the sake of the recipients of the people they love

reason being when you love for God’s sake your love is gracious and uncalculating

when you love for your own sake your love is self indulgent and limited by your own bias

[Enochian]

I agree. But for me, I find it hard in determining if I love someone for my own self interest or for God's sake. In 26 years of my life, maybe I'm wrong, but in order for it to be for God's sake you have to love yourself first before you can love another or even expect them to love you

[charlesG]

Better then what?

[Savage_Wisdom]

That's not the point of Mark 7:1-15. The Pharisees and scribes had altered the word of God; adding things here, removing things there, all in an effort to make the word of God more pleasing to man. However, doing so ment it was no longer the word of God, and doing so is far more toxic than any sickness or disease you could encounter.