28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
-Mark 12:28-34
You may be familiar with the ten commandments (Exodus 20), which include many famous commandments such as "you shall have no other gods before me", "you shall not murder", and "you shall not steal". These are fundamental principals God gave his people to follow, which they looked to for generations and generations.
Fast forwarding to Jesus's ministry and to this specific passage, the ten commandments and the other laws written in the old testament were very much still valid and practiced at the time, including animal sacrifices and other rituals. Therefore, it was certainly an interesting question to ask Jesus which commandment is most important, even if it was a question to trap Jesus to undermine his teachings.
However, as we have seen many times when challengers approach him, Jesus provides a response that is unexpected but also reveals truths in how our relationship with God should be. In this case, he answers very simply and plainly what the two greatest commandments are: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and Love your neighbor as yourself.
Although these commandments of loving God and others may seem elementary, they in a way really encompass all other commandments and laws God gave us in the old testament and all other principals we learn in the rest of the bible. Love is emphasized throughout the bible - not only is God himself love and loves all, but Paul even writes "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Loving God is the most important and fundamental thing about being a christian. We believe in a God who loved us so much that he saved us from our sins through Jesus's death and resurrection, and therefore we respond by loving Him with our lives. Whether it is singing praise and worship during church, spending time with God through devotions and prayer, studying for tests and quizzes to honor the education God has given us, or even enjoying life with young life leaders and friends, these are all ways we show and live our love for God by loving and honoring him in all parts of our lives, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
By loving God, we are also able and called to love others, as we love ourselves. Especially in the world and society we live in today that emphasizes so much on self care and success, putting others, including our enemies, on the same level as ourselves can be a difficult thing to do. However, as Christians, we are called to serve and love, and to "do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12), and if this command comes right after the command to love God, then we better pay attention and make sure this gets incorporated in our lives!
Often Jesus's teachings may be confusing or hard to understand. But here Jesus puts in plainly and clearly for all to understand what God values the most: loving Him and loving others. Are we doing this?
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