“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
Matthew 22:37-40
Once again the religious leaders want to trick Jesus with another question. “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?” They figured that every commandment was just as important as any other. So if Jesus gave “# One” to a commandment, it meant that he’d be placing others as less important.
This gives Jesus an opportunity to place both the commandment to love God and to love others on the same level. It’s like a seesaw with two children sitting so that neither side is going up or down.
All the instructions of God in the Bible come down to a few basic commandments. You love God when you love others; you love others when you love God. When the never-ending love of God soaks into us like water into a sponge, then God’s power of loving is right there for you and me to share with the next person who comes our way.
Matthew 22:34–40
Examples of Bible Breaths Learn More…
Loving You with all my heart v. 37
Loving neighbor as myself v. 39
Enemies under Your feet v. 44
Surrendering to silence v. 46
Check out Study Tools in BibleGateway.
I especially recommend the free resource
in Matthew Henry’s Commentary.‘s Commentary.
The Sunday Gospels follow the Revised Common Lectionary.
This is Year A, the Gospel of Matthew
These Firestarters are for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, I recommend the ebook. You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or table! Check the menu options at the site for more information.
The Bible Through the Seasons 