Session 4

The greatest of all the commandments is love

From Mark: A 6-Week Devotional

By Jesus’ time, the Jews had created hundreds of rules for following God. There were so many rules, some leaders started sorting them into major and minor laws.

When asked which was the most important commandment, Jesus answered: “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."  

Seems simple enough — until you get the diagnosis you weren’t expecting or your neighbor rings the doorbell during nap time.

Loving God and loving one another is not always easy. But it means more to Jesus than any religious ritual. It’s more important than how often we take communion, what we wear to church, and which translation of the Bible we read. When Jesus narrowed all the Jewish laws down to two sentences, He wasn’t saying religious practices were bad. He was showing the Jews a better way to honor God.

God loves us. His plan was never to burden us. Every command in the Bible comes down to these two principles: love God and love others. If we focus on fulfilling these two commandments, we’ll find that we’re fulfilling all God’s commands in the process.

Reflect:

• What does it mean to love God with all your heart, mind and soul?
• What’s one way you can love a co-worker, classmate, or neighbor this week?
• Think about your life before Jesus. What are some of the ways you were hard to love? How does that change your perspective on the hard-to-love people in your life today?