August 9 | What Are God’s Two Greatest Commands?

Series | The Purpose Filled Life

Scripture | Mark 12:30-31, “30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Lesson 9 | What Are God’s Two Greatest Commands?

God’s two greatest commands are to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.  First, to love God means to worship and adore Him with genuine praise and worship, John 4:24.  Second, we love God by keeping all of His commands, John 14:15.

The first way we are to love our neighbor as ourselves is to help them in their times of need like the “Good Samaritan,” Luke 10:25-27.  And the second way is by preaching the Gospel to them so that they might believe and be saved, Acts 20:26-27.

When Jesus walked the earth He revealed the Father’s heart and perfectly completed the Old Covenant (or Testament).  Jesus did not come to abolish or do away with the 613 laws given by God to Moses (known as the “Law of Moses”) but rather He came to perfectly obey them and bring a new covenant with a new law (the “Law of Christ”), Jeremiah 31:31 & John 1:17.

Though the Christian can gain understanding of God’s character from the many laws of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ Himself is the full representation of God in the flesh, Colossians 1:15.  Therefore, the disciple of Christ is commanded to follow all that Jesus taught as the final revelation from God the Father, Matthew 28:20.

From these two commandments follow all of Jesus’ teachings.  For example, if you truly love God you will follow Jesus’ teaching on sexuality.  Because Jesus taught that God only blessed sex between a married man and woman, Mark 10:7.

Therefore, set your heart on obeying God’s two greatest commands and all the others will come naturally! 

Reflection | Do you love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself?

Action | (1) Repent of anything you love more than God, Luke 14:26. (2) Repent for the times you did not love others as yourself.  (3) Lastly, determine to always love God and people!  

One Year Reading Plan (Optional) | Ezra 8:21-9:15, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, Psalm 31:1-8, & Proverbs 21:1-2. Click here to read online.