love God, love Others

What matters most?

Jewish tradition recognizes 613 mitzvot (commandments of God to be observed as a matter of duty) in the Scriptures. That’s a lot of rules to follow. Religious leaders asked Jesus which was the greatest of all God’s commandments.

Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Jesus pairs these two commands, saying all the law and the prophets—or in other words, the balance of the Bible’s teachings—hang on this matter of love. Love God. Love others.

Love is what matters most.

Jesus said the watching world will know we are truly believers in God by the way we love others (John 13:35).

Love is the litmus test. Do you want to know if you’re growing? Maturing in your faith? How well are you loving others?

It’s not about which creeds you profess, what church you belong to or how frequently you go, how much you tithe, or how many passages of Scripture you have memorized. It’s certainly not about which side of various social and political issues you stand on, how you vote, how many arguments you win, or how many shortcomings and sins you can point out in others’ lives.

Without love … you’re just making noise. The Scriptures say as much:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

We cannot say that we love God and fail to love others; our failure to love others demonstrates a shortcoming in our love and devotion towards God.

We have a problem, believers. The last word people outside of faith in Jesus would use to describe us is loving. First and foremost, we need to get back to what matters most—love.

Show me someone who genuinely loves … and I’ll show you a follower of Christ.