But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing 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 foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” ~ Matthew 22:34-40
Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, not to abolish them. He summed up the Ten Commandments in two simple commands: love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as yourself. If we love God and our fellow man, we will not worship idols or take the Lord’s name in vain; we will not kill or steal or do any of the other things the Old Testament tells us are sins. More than that, though, we will worship God passionately and not just go through the motions. We will go beyond not harming others and do good to them. Jesus didn’t tell us what not to do; He told us what to do.
Lord God, Jesus gave us only two simple commands, but I find them so hard to do. So many people are hard to love. Yet those people who are the hardest to love are the ones who need it most. Fill my heart with Your love. Empower me by the Holy Ghost to love the unlovable. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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