“LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. THIS IS THE FIRST AND GREATEST COMMANDMENT.” —MATTHEW 22:37-38, NIV
I am not satisfied with being the pastor of a church of believers, or even of a community of followers of Jesus. Because I know that all of us are capable of believing and of following without being passionately in love—and according to Jesus, that’s just not enough. Not enough to satisfy what He calls the “first and greatest commandment,” and not enough to satisfy our deepest needs.
We can follow all the other commandments of God, and yet, if we neglect to keep the most important one, we might as well break all the others!
Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, is more important than anything else.
Though we can strive and push and exert every possible effort to be good, to follow doctrine, to do all the right things, it is a passionate, sincere love for God that inspires and gives us the strength to do any- thing at all—including loving others.
What if you just aren’t feeling it?
That’s why Jesus came. He bridges the gap between us and the Father. He lives in us and pours His love in our hearts. He teaches us to love by the power of His Spirit. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
It always comes back to LOVE, the greatest commandment of all.
