The Greatest Commandment

 

Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment, and he asked them what they thought. They replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This was given to Israel in the Pentateuch, the 5 books of Moses. We often summarize Christianity a little to be nice, believe in Jesus, or go to church as ways to live a faithful life. However, Jesus reminds us that to follow him, there are some expectations to live a good life, and there are goals we can work on; ways we can grow.

To be able to love with all our heart doesn’t mean we can’t love our family, our community, our pets, or our favorite football team (even when the Vikings disappoint us again); it means that the love of God fills our heart and flows into everything we love as well. To fully love with all our heart, means we have to work on getting rid of hate, apathy, and anything that limits or prohibits our ability to love. The letter of John in chapter 4 tells us that we cannot love God if we hate our neighbor. For how can we love God who we cannot see, if we can’t love our neighbor who we do see?

To be able to love with all our mind doesn’t mean we only think about God and not our families, jobs, hobbies, or the world. It means we put the mind of Christ in us to see God’s kingdom in the world and to bring “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Again, if we are thinking just about getting more stuff, only about our own wants, or who deserves what; our minds are filled not with love.

To be able to love with all our soul is the most abstract of these, how do we love with all our soul? The psalmist tells us to, “Be still and know that I am God!” So, to love with our soul is to spend time in silence and maybe alone. Jesus often left the crowds and his disciples to spend time in prayer. To connect to God’s Spirit, we have to be quiet and listen.

To be able to love with all our strength doesn’t mean we only do works of charity and justice; it means that we honor our body as created in the image of God and take care of it. We need to get enough sleep, eat right, exercise, play, and even dance, maybe. To love God with our body is to respect our bodies and everyone else’s as well, to do no harm towards each other or our own. When we are healthy, it is so much easier to love ourselves and to love others.

To love our neighbor is the Golden Rule: to treat others as you would want to be treated. It is also to see them as children of God, created in God’s image, and worthy of our love and respect.

To love ourselves as ourselves is to believe that God created us with our talents, worth, and beauty. We shouldn’t have to live up to social media standards, to do things because it’s expected, or believe that what we have to offer isn’t worthy much. We are loved by God and nothing can separate us from the love of God.

To work on this greatest commandment is to find a balance in our lives, not to be perfect, but take time for ourselves, for God, for our neighbors, and to bring the love of God into all we do, all we are, and see the love of God in this world and in each other. Peace

Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Pastor Enno K. Limvere, Designated Pastor of First Congregational Church of Grand Marais, United Church of Christ.