The Greatest Commandment of All
Scripture: Mark 12:29-31
"29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Observations:
In response to a question regarding which of God's commands is the most important Jesus stated that loving God comes first before everything else. Loving God requires a total and complete committment involving the entire faculties of a person: the heart, soul, mind, and energy applied at full capacity. This requires serious effort and work; not something that is likely to happen on its own. Loving God requires purpose and intent that are sacrificially given to God in place of other things. While that sounds demanding, the thing that offsets it is the fact that it's God who is unquestionably worth all of the above. However, what stands out about Jesus' response is that He views loving other people as an equally important part of the same commandment (vs. 30) by giving it the same weight as one's love for God Himself. In essence, the greatest commandment of God is two-fold: love God and love people.
Application:
Often times we tend to view a relationship with God as an exclusive spiritual exchange between us and God. But according to Jesus, anyone who approaches God with that kind of attitude ends up with an incomplete equation. Not only were we created for God, we were also created for each other with God's love being the foundation upon which every relationship is built. Many times we try and segregate our relationship with God from our relationship with the world around us; but God never intended it that way. Instead, His plan for us has always been for our "spiritual" lives and our "regular" lives to be one in the same. The best way to make that a reality was demonstrated by Jesus Himself who always made loving people an equal priority as His love for God. When viewed in this light, we haven't truly loved God completely "with all our strength" until it finds its way into the lives of the people around us. When know that we have truly given God our all when it manifests itself in others. "Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth..." 1 John 3:18-19
Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving us perfectly and unconditionally. Help us to love You as You have loved us as a reflection of who You are to the world around us. Cause our love for You to grow as we seek to demonstrate the love of Christ to others. Amen.
"29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Observations:
In response to a question regarding which of God's commands is the most important Jesus stated that loving God comes first before everything else. Loving God requires a total and complete committment involving the entire faculties of a person: the heart, soul, mind, and energy applied at full capacity. This requires serious effort and work; not something that is likely to happen on its own. Loving God requires purpose and intent that are sacrificially given to God in place of other things. While that sounds demanding, the thing that offsets it is the fact that it's God who is unquestionably worth all of the above. However, what stands out about Jesus' response is that He views loving other people as an equally important part of the same commandment (vs. 30) by giving it the same weight as one's love for God Himself. In essence, the greatest commandment of God is two-fold: love God and love people.
Application:
Often times we tend to view a relationship with God as an exclusive spiritual exchange between us and God. But according to Jesus, anyone who approaches God with that kind of attitude ends up with an incomplete equation. Not only were we created for God, we were also created for each other with God's love being the foundation upon which every relationship is built. Many times we try and segregate our relationship with God from our relationship with the world around us; but God never intended it that way. Instead, His plan for us has always been for our "spiritual" lives and our "regular" lives to be one in the same. The best way to make that a reality was demonstrated by Jesus Himself who always made loving people an equal priority as His love for God. When viewed in this light, we haven't truly loved God completely "with all our strength" until it finds its way into the lives of the people around us. When know that we have truly given God our all when it manifests itself in others. "Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth..." 1 John 3:18-19
Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving us perfectly and unconditionally. Help us to love You as You have loved us as a reflection of who You are to the world around us. Cause our love for You to grow as we seek to demonstrate the love of Christ to others. Amen.
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