"‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:29-31
Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, what the greatest of the commandments was. The scripture above, was his answer. It is interesting that neither of these are found in the ten commandments, yet Jesus identified them as the greatest of all. If Jesus taught that these are of the greatest importance, then we should pay attention and learn.
First, we are to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. To me, this means that we love him with our spirits, souls, and bodies. God desires us to love him completely. When we withhold any part of our beings from him, we withhold our love. So the obvious question is: How do we love God? Our love for him is far different than the world's idea of love. It is not based on emotion or attraction. Although our relationship with God will sometimes result in emotion, the foundation of our love for God is found in a few simple words: We love God by obeying what he says to us. It sounds simple, but is more difficult to work out in our lives. Again, this is the foundation of our love for God. Once we begin to live by obeying his commands, we begin to desire him. We miss him when we are not close, and we cherish our times with him. But we must learn to hear his voice and obey what he says in order for our love to be complete. This is the greatest commandment.
Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. The only way that we will learn to love ourselves is through a love relationship with God. It is impossible to truly love ourselves or our neighbors without first possessing love for God. When we enter a relationship with God, the beauty of our lives is revealed. Without that relationship, all that is left is the ugly truth that we are lost slaves to the world and our flesh. The most obviously seen mark of a true disciple of Christ is our love for others. When we love our neighbors, friends, and family, people notice.
The greatest thing you and I can ever accomplish is found simply in obeying the first commandment. We need to love God with all of our being. When we do that, there is a natural overflow that results in love for others. These two commands cannot be separated. One is not possible without the other. So if you are struggling with the question: Do I really love God?, determine if you are obeying what he has told you. Then begin to see yourself as you really are; a child of God, created perfectly to be loved by him and to love him back. Then you will notice that you love others. You will have compassion where you have not had it before. You will desire to express love to those who are hurting or in trouble. This is full obedience to the greatest of commandments. Others may focus on the ten commandments and this is good, but we will never obey them if we do not first obey the two greatest commandments.
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