Love God, Love Your Neighbor

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’

Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” --Mark 12:28-31 (NKJV)

Please refer to yesterday’s devotional thoughts, “Love God—A Command.” We discussed loving God with all the heart, soul and might. Jesus added in Mark’s account as he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 that we should love God with all of our mind. This indicates that it takes our thought processes, our mind, to love God fully, as well as with the heart, soul, and strength (might). The prophet Isaiah wrote (26:3) “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (NKJV). Loving God with the mind means seeking to honor Him in our thoughts. Any vile or untoward thoughts that invade our mind are not of God. Keep your mind stayed on God (fixed upon, fastened securely to). To love God completely is the first commandment, Jesus said, and that involves our four-dimensional being—heart, soul, mind and strength.

“And the second, like it, is to love your neighbor as yourself.” We learn from the parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:29-37) who our neighbor is. It is anyone in need of help to whom we can minister. Thinking about loving my neighbor as myself, I begin my arguments with the Lord. That’s too hard to do. If my neighbor is hungry, I am asked to feed him. Too many people are hungry, I argue. I can’t feed them all. Find those you can feed, and share with them, the Lord urges. If my neighbor is in ragged clothes I need to clothe him. If my neighbor is like the injured man in the Good Samaritan parable, I will bind up his wounds, take him to a place of refuge, pay whatever is necessary for his care. If my neighbor reviles me, I will not seek revenge but I will forgive him. Oh! How hard Jesus makes it for us to love our neighbor as ourselves! And then this thought dawned on me: If I love God with my heart, soul, mind and strength, He will be helping me to remove all my doubts and arguments about loving a neighbor as myself. I will see my neighbor through eyes of understanding, through the eyes of God-inspired compassion. Then it will be much easier to love my neighbor as myself because my own selfishness will be swallowed up in devotion to God. A love will blossom forth that sincerely wants to go to the rescue of those in need.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, February 4, 2010