Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31 (CSB)

The Scriptures are full of commands. Under the Mosaic Law, there were many different sacrifices and many ritual statutes to observe. Religious leaders during Jesus’ day disputed which of God’s commands was the most important. In this passage, a lawyer asked Christ to weigh in on the debate. Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5. According to Jesus, consuming love for God is the most important command to observe, and similarly, deep care for others is vital.

God desires that we love him. This command gets to the core of our being—the affections of our hearts. Elsewhere, Jesus states that where our treasure is, there our heart will also be (Matthew 6:21). Treasuring God above all—loving him with all that we are and all that we have— is the greatest act of obedience. If we love God, we will listen and obey his voice. This obedience really matters to him!

Secondly, love for God spills over into the way that we treat people around us. God’s Word shows us that people are our neighbors not based on where they live but on our encounters with them (remember the parable of the good Samaritan). Our responsibility is to love the people that cross our paths every day.

What does this love look like? Jesus demonstrated love for his Father by spending significant time in prayer, treasuring the Word of God, and then doing the Father’s will. Jesus also loved his neighbors. He spent his life serving people and pointing them to repent and turn to God. Ultimately, he died for them and rose on their behalf.

In Christ, we have been reconciled to God and commissioned to share the same good news that we have believed. Our mission is to know and love God. Then we are to encounter others in loving kindness. As we do, God will enable us to pray and act to communicate his love.