Mark 12:30-31: “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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
In Mark Chapter 12, we come across a powerful story. Jesus is asked by an educated teacher of the Jewish law what the greatest commandment in all the Bible is. What a question! Could you imagine being asked such a question? Especially in front of the group of scholars Jesus was speaking to at the time. Talk about pressure!
But you know what’s amazing? Jesus didn’t hesitate to answer! Not in the slightest! He says there are two. The first, was covered in our Faith Walk column last week: to love God with your everything. The second stems from the first, and it’s the calling to love others as you love yourself! Or, as Jesus demonstrated through His actions, even more so!
It’s obvious what these two great commandments have in common: they are all about love. The love we have for God naturally flows into a love of what God loves: and that’s everyone else! We can share in God’s boundless love for all His children. Yes, God’s love is boundless! Someone once said, “God’s love is like an ocean, you can see the beginning, but never see the end”.
Through the Holy Spirit, God equips us with everything we need to love and serve the needs of others. Loving others as ourselves means that we have a shift in our mindset. The world tells us to get ahead at all costs for the sake of our own success. But loving others as ourselves means that we are focused on meeting the needs of others in our lives. Whether it be our family, friends, or fellow brothers and sisters, God has called us to use our time, strength, and energy to serve them in powerful ways that show them the love of Jesus.
Let’s find something we can do to express and share love with someone we meet this very day.
You can write the Pastor at pastorbilly@findtruelife.com.