The Greatest Commandment of All

Jesus was asked which commandment was first of all.

He did not make it hard.

Hear, O 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.

That is the first.

And the second is like it.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.

Mark 12.

That second one is where a lot of us stumble.

Not because we do not know the words.

Because our flesh still wants to look at people and find fault.

We judge.

We measure.

We tell ourselves we would never do what they did.

And if we are honest, some of that judging is just us trying to look better.

That is not love.

That is the old man talking.

The well-being of our soul is tied to this.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Do not judge them.

Do not fault them.

Love them.

Agape love.

The kind that does not come out of our own niceness.

We do not have that in us by nature.

That love only comes by the Spirit of God.

It is God’s grace and God’s power that even gives us the ability to love the person who rubs us wrong.

So we have to walk in the Spirit.

Crucify the flesh.

Die to that need to be right and be above somebody.

It is the grace of God that we even stand.

It is His love and His forgiveness that made us who we are.

We are not better than anyone.

Not one of us.

If He had not come after us, we would still be lost.

So we do not judge to make ourselves look better.

We love our neighbor as ourselves.

That is the command.

That is the way.

Father in heaven,

Thank You for Your grace and Your mercy in my life.

Help me to be thankful for every blessing.

Thank You that You are my Father.

You take me through hard times for my well-being and to build my character.

As I grow in You, let me never forget it is by You that I am who I am.

Be glorified in my life.

Never let me judge another.

Let me do what You commanded.

Love my neighbor as myself.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.