One day a religious leader approached Jesus and asked Him which commandment of the Law was greatest.
Jesus answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40 NLT
Here’s the Bible in a nutshell: God loves you. Love God. Love others.
God tells us to love Him because He desires a relationship with each of us. He created us for this relationship with Him. That’s why we search and search for things and people to fill up the void inside of us. Until we allow God to fill that place, we will never be satisfied. Only He can fulfill us, completely and wholly.
God also wants us to have relationships with each other. He commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus defines a neighbor as anyone you encounter on your journey through life.
Loving people in this way doesn’t come natural or easy, but when we do it, I bet it makes God smile! When my kids are being kind to one another, it makes me so happy. I imagine that’s how God feels when we love His other kids like we love ourselves.
If you’d like some inspiration on this topic, I highly recommend Bob Goff’s books, Love Does and Everybody Always.
Let’s brainstorm together! What are some ways we can show love to our neighbors?
Last week someone paid for my order in the Starbucks drive-thru line. It made my day. When friends are going through a hard time, like an injury, illness or death in the family, I try to send a card or pop by with a meal. It’s often the little things that can mean so much.
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