How to Honor the Most Important Commandments

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How important is it that you and I obey the commandments?
Is there a “most important commandment?”

You must not have any other god but me.
You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind.
You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Honor your father and mother. 
You must not commit adultery.
You must not steal.
You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

Exodus 20:3-17

One day, a Pharisee, who was considered an “expert in religious law, tried to trap Jesus” with the following question:

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

Matthew 22:36

Notice he really didn’t want Jesus’ answer so he could better obey God. He wanted to engage Jesus in one of their favorite past times – self-righteous debate through rule qualifying.

But once again, Jesus understood their true motives. So, He simply summarized God’s Commandments in two short sentences…

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37-–40

God is perfect unfailing everlasting love. If you and I want to honor and obey Him . . . love is the answer.

And because of sin, because of our self-centered selfishness it is impossible for us to love the way God wants without His Spirit’s help and we only have His Spirit’s help when we repent of that self-centered selfishness and surrender ourselves to the saving grace of Jesus.

To read more about what it means to love God with your “all” go to – How to Love God with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength.

And to read more about the meaning of loving others as you love yourself, check out – How to Love Your Neighbor as You Love Yourself.

But first, let’s go to the Lord…

A Prayer to Honor the Most Important Commandments

Father, thank you for Your perfect unfailing everlasting love. Thank you for generously demonstrating Your love by sending Jesus to suffer the punishment I deserved.

Please forgive me. I am selfish and self-centered. I fail every day to trust and love You completely. I stubbornly do things my own way. I listen to the shouts of the world and I worry. And I fall so far short of loving others the way You want me to.

Please help me. Teach me Your truth that I might fight back against the enemy’s lies. Help me hold Your promises in my heart that I might trust and follow Your will. Fill me with Your love that I might love others in ways that glorify You.

May it forever be my heart’s desire to love You and others as my loving response to all the grace, mercy, and LOVE you have given to me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

It’s hard, isn’t it? It’s not in our human nature to love like Jesus. But with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can proclaim with John:

All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

We love each other because He loved us first.

1 John 4:15–16, 19

May God’s love be the first thing people see in us and the last thing they remember about us.

On today’s note write:

LOVE is the Most Important Commandment!

Take a moment to read all of Matthew 22 here.

God be with you today and may He fill you until you overflow with His love.

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