In Matthew 22 verses 34 through 40, a pharisee attempted to test Jesus and asked him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 

Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 

Let’s break down some of the wording here. The love Jesus spoke about in this reference is agape love. In Greek, and many other languages, they have multiple words to define our English word: love. To name a few, there is agape, phileo, philadelphia, and erastos, for example.  Agape love is clearly and definitively defined in I Corinthians 13 verses 1 through 8a and 13.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

The author intentionally used the pronoun “your” to describe the relationship to God. The relationship was designed to be personal – not like the Israelites who wanted Moses to talk to God and then bring them the message. God’s initial and eternal desire has been and always will be to be a personal God to each person.

Looking more closely at the parts of the self we are to love God with: the heart, in the Greek, means thoughts, feelings, mind (inner being). The soul, in Greek, means breath, spirit, rational soul, vitality. The mind, in the Greek, means deep thought, imagination, and understanding. In Mark’s writings of these events, he includes the phrase “with all your strength”. In the Greek, strength here means power, ability, strength, might. We can think of that in terms of our physical body strength.

I believe this points to God’s understanding of how He designed us with different aspects or parts of this existence. We have feelings and emotions, we have thoughts and intellect, we have the breath of life that flows from God Himself, and we have a physical body. (I could divert here and discuss how uniquely made in God’s image we are (I have a study on this too). God has feelings and emotions, He has thoughts and intellect, He is the breath of life, and when He came in flesh, He had physical power and ability). Regardless, God knew exactly what He was saying in Deuteronomy 6:5 when He commanded the Israelites to love Him with everything they had. I have heard it said it’s easy to live for God hard and it’s hard to live for God easy. I think these scriptures bring understanding to that phrase. When we do love God with every part of our being it’s very easy to live for Him, to daily walk with Him. But, when we try to love Him with a portion, but not all, it’s difficult and frustrating.

Anyway, back to the words of the verses in Matthew. The verse that commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves literally means to love them in the same manner we love ourselves. Some may baulk at this, viewing it as selfish. Jesus knew exactly what He was talking about. It is possible to have a healthy love of self. It is also possible to hate oneself. Let me just say here, if we do not have a healthy love of self, there is NO way we can love others the way we are supposed to. Also, there’s a reason this commandment is second only to loving God. The only way we can have a healthy love of self is to have a healthy loving relationship with God – where God’s pure love flows from Him to us and back from us to Him. It’s a mutual relationship. Only when we can humbly accept God’s gracious love of us, can we then cultivate a healthy love of self. This is VERY difficult for many people. And this is why so many struggle to truly love God and love others correctly. This three-way love triangle is very intricately connected.

To the last phrase: “on these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus was referencing the 600+ commandments outline by Moses for the Israelites to live by and all the words of the prophets recorded before His time. That is A LOT of writing, a lot of information, a lot of rules. This statement Jesus just made here is HUGE. If, and I want to stress if, we can get these first two commandments right, everything else will fall into place.

When we love God the right way, His way, it’s easy to hear His voice, to listen and discern His voice, to heed His instructions. When we love Him correctly, obedience is second nature. Loving Him correctly involves an unwavering trust of Him and His character. We know Him. When we love God the right way, we see ourselves the way He does: honestly. We begin to love ourselves in a healthy way, because we see ourselves as precious created children of our good, good Father. Then, loving others, our neighbors as ourselves flows easily and naturally. We see them as God sees them: precious, beloved, worth dying for.

It is no wonder Jesus gave the perfect example of loving a neighbor when He told the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). This man did not consider his own status or reputation. He just saw a man hurting and dying and had compassion on him.

Matthew 25:31-40 is the best example of how we show God we love Him, by loving on His most treasured creation. <3

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 

Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 

And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 

I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 

And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 

And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 

I feel like this topic may very well be inexhaustible, but for today, I will wrap it up.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33