Sacred Truth Friday: The Greatest Commandment

““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
http://bible.com/59/deu.6.4-5.esv

Read this today as part of my daily reading. Loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. New Testament verses below that speak of this great commandment. 

“But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””
Matthew 22:34-40 ESV
http://bible.com/59/mat.22.34-40.esv

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall 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: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””
Mark 12:28-31 ESV
http://bible.com/59/mrk.12.28-31.esv

“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.””
Luke 10:25-28 ESV
http://bible.com/59/luk.10.25-28.esv

We are to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all strength. Loving Him means we will obey Him. 

“Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
John 14:23 ESV
http://bible.com/59/jhn.14.23.esv

And also, according to these verses, we are to love others as well. Love our neighbors as ourselves. And our neighbors include everyone, not just the people next door to us. 

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-13 ESV
http://bible.com/59/1co.13.4-13.esv

Love is not rude. Does not harm others or boast. Forgives. Is not resentful. Believes the best about others. Love endures and is patient. Love hopes and rejoices with the truth. Love is not arrogant or rude. Love never ends. 

These are the two greatest commandments. To love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. After all, He loved us first (1 John 4:19) and all He wants is our love in return. 

And we are to love others as well. Love that sees the best in others, helps and serves them and puts their needs above our own. 

“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.””
Romans 15:1-3 ESV
http://bible.com/59/rom.15.1-3.esv

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Philippians 2:3-4 ESV
http://bible.com/59/php.2.3-4.esv

We are to put others first and not be selfish. 

We prove our love for God by spending time with Him through prayer and reading of His Word and obeying Him. And we prove our love for others by serving them and putting them first. These, indeed, are the two greatest commandments. 










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