The Greatest Command

Sometimes I forget that Jesus told us that the Bible contained "the greatest command" and the "second". I start thinking that everything carries the same weight of importance; when I do that I get it wrong. If Jesus was able to sort through all the commands and give us the "most important commands", they demand our attention.

Jesus finds himself in a discussion with the religious leaders of His day and as usual, they are trying to trip Him up in hopes of discrediting Him. One of the teachers of the law heard His responses and saw wisdom in His answers and decided to test Him with a question. He asks Jesus "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36) Now I don't know about you, but when Jesus speaks, I tend to listen. HE is "the way, the truth and the life" and He is the "word" and through Him "we know the truth and the truth sets us free". Since He is the "word", He is the one who can tell us which command is the most important. They all belong to Him!

So, Jesus, without hesitation tells us that the greatest command is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind". (v 37) He then tells us that "love your neighbor as yourself" is the second greatest command. (v 39) Love God and love people. He goes on to say that every other command finds their origin, their basis in these two commands. He says they "hang" on these two commands. Without these two, the others lose their meaning. For example, a door is not a door if it is not hung on hinges that allow it to operate within the door frame. It loses it's purpose and has no function.

We are the same as the door, without love for God and love for people, what we do loses it's basis. Why do we worship only God? Why do we feed the hungry? Why do we help the sick? Why do we clothe the naked? Why do we tell the truth? Why are we faithful to our spouses? Simple answer, we love God and we love people. When I love God and love people, it changes what I think and how I act. It changes the purpose of my life. I am no longer a plank of wood, sitting on a shelf; I am a door swinging freely on the hinges of love for God and my fellow man.

What I do privately and what I do publicly demonstrates my love for God and people. What I think and how I speak flows from my love for God and people. Everything in my life (or as Jesus put it, my heart, soul, mind and strength) either shows the love that I have or it displays my lack of love. We all know people that display this kind of love. We want to be near them and have them touch our lives. If our lives display this uncommon love, people want us to be involved in their lives. Who we are is a direct correlation to whose we are. If our hearts belong to Jesus, our love for people will overflow. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.(1 John 4:20)
May we determine to make God the love of our lives and make our lives a tribute to Him as we love others. The next time someone asks you, "why are you different?", just tell them you live by the greatest commands ever given. They will want to know more..... and love demands that you tell them.