Love God and Love Others
In the Old Testament God gives hundreds of commands for his people to follow. We call this the Law or the Law of Moses (since God gives it to Moses to tell to the people).
But over time the people add more rules to it, some 20,000 more. They call this the Law, too.
That’s a lot of God’s commands and man’s rules to keep straight. In fact, it’s impossible to follow them all. I think that’s the point. Since we can’t possibly keep all of the rules, we need a different way. That way is Jesus.
Jesus’s detractors want to embarrass him. They ask a question, one they feel no one should be able to answer. Of these thousands of laws, they ask, which one is the most important?
Jesus is ready: Love God fully. Yep, that’s it. The greatest commandment is to love God.
Then Jesus tells them the second most important one: Love others as much as you love yourself.
Love God and love others. These provide the foundation of the entire Old Testament law.
Of course if Jesus’s inquisitors thought things through a bit, they’d realize Moses already answered this question. After Moses shares the Ten Commandments, he concludes by giving the people a reminder to love God fully.
Yes, we need to fully and totally love God; we need to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Love is the answer.
(Matthew 22:37-41, Deuteronomy 6:5)
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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