Looking Back Over Jesus’ Life
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He 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 greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 22:34-40
My faith has been formed by the words of Jesus. In many of the stories that He told, and in many of the ways that He interacted with people, love was the primary focus.
When Jesus was questioned on which, of the hundreds of commandments in the Jewish Law, was the greatest, Jesus spoke of love — “Love the Lord your God…..” To make His answer more complete, Jesus continued to speak of love — “Love your neighbor as you love yourself ….”
When, in the midst of our day to day encounters with others, as we are trying to figure out how to live our lives as followers of Jesus Christ in each different situation, a loving response is a great reflex.
Prayer
God, help me to be immersed so fully in the love that you have sent flowing into my life in the person and work of Jesus Christ, that love will flow through me and onto each person that I meet today. Amen.