One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked Him, “Which command is the most important of all?”
Very simple verses that could be expounded upon infinitely. Indeed, it could be very reasonably argued that the entire Bible is simply an expansion of these two commands.
“This is the most important,” Jesus answered:
Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
“The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
The interesting note here is that the first part: Love the Lord your God has three major underlying principles:
A) Believe in God.
B) Love God.
C) Do what God commands.
Doing what God commands is largely based on showing love to our fellow man. So, the two parts are completely intertwined. You cannot show hatred or indifference to your fellow man and claim to love God at the same time... it is impossible.
There are hundreds of references in the Bible to the concept of Loving the Lord your God. It is the single most common topic in the Bible. It is the central theme.
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This is an area I've been strongly considering lately. I think too many people focus on half of the "love your neighbor" part.
ReplyDeleteI think the 2nd part is the controlling aspect we really have to look at first and foremost "as yourself". I can't be indifferent about my health, my survival, my emotional state and love my neighbor.
I think the gun control crowd / pacifists mistake the "love your neighbor" as 'letting them walk all over you' and includes criminals in that group. I don't see it. We are supposed to treat our bodies as a temple so does it make sense to let criminals stomp us into dust.
We are supposed to love but even God shows that sometimes love isn't enough. Jesus died on the cross between two thieves, He loved both but only one was in Paradise that day with Jesus and it was due to his faith.
Well said. Ironic you should make those points with some of the posts I have scheduled over the next couple of weeks!
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