March 24, 2025 | Be God's Family
Jesus Speaks about the Greatest Commandment
Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40(NIV)
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Devotional
The Greatest Commandment is one of the most important teachings of Jesus. He taught that we should “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). As Christians, we need to remember this teaching and focus diligently every day to keep our Lord and God central to our lives. The second commandment that Jesus taught flows from this Greatest Commandment and was to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:38). Jesus combined the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses into two commandments.
In the Old Testament, God instructed Moses to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5). God said we must keep this Love of the Lord on our hearts (Deut. 6:6) and “Impress them [the Ten Commandments] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deut. 6:7). Moses taught us to not seek revenge against others, but “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18).
The beautiful song “They’ll Know We are Christians By Our Love” by Peter Scholtes reflects the two commandments that Jesus taught us. The first verse is
“We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord;
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord;
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
Take a few minutes to pray about the Greatest Commandment. How you are keeping it on your heart?
Are there ways you want to strengthen your love of God?
Are you teaching the Greatest Commandment to younger family members and friends?
Poem
Looking Upon My Love
Psalm 18
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Psalm 18:1
Looking upon my Love
All is purity and faithfulness
Strength and tenderness
Filling my heart
With a concert of joy
Filling my mind
With a plethora of wisdom
Filling my soul
With an ocean of peace
Filling my weaknesses
With a fortress of sustenance
How can this Love
Not spill over
Onto my surroundings
Drenching the hearts
With the rains of refreshment
Splashing the minds
With droplets of imagination
Washing the souls
With pourings of balm
Flooding the impoverished
With crystalline bounty
