![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/Mark_12_30-31_v02.jpg)
| “There is no commandment greater than these.” |
| —Mark 12:31 |
The most simply stated, yet hardest to follow, instructions from Jesus are summarized in Mark 12:30-31:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
It is hard for us to truly Love God with the totality of our beings. So many other distractions tend to pull us away from unswerving devotion to Him. It is equally hard for us to truly love our neighbors because we humans simply do not consistently get along with each other very well.
Recently, I received a phone call from a friend asking for my comments regarding a situation my friend described as follows:
I was thinking the other day about someone I have known for a long time. Over the years, I have come to care about this person very much. But lately, this person seems a little irritated with me and acts a bit cold toward me. Of course, it could be my too-active imagination. But, I don’t think it is. I have racked my brain trying to figure out what I may have done to offend this person. I cannot remember anything that I did or said that would have prompted this reaction toward me. I’m sure other people would respond to my observation and just say, “Aw, forget about it!” But, I can’t. If I wasn’t so “chicken,” I would go to this person and try to find out what’s going on in our relationship.
In contrast to my friend’s dilemma, in my own life there are people with whom I do not particularly get along. And, the amazing thing is I strongly suspect that they don’t even know how I feel about them, or care.
That’s the odd thing about human relationships: sometimes the people we care about get irritated with us and sometimes other people create irritation within us.
So, it is hard—very hard—to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
In yet another situation, I have some dear friends who lately seem to have a difficult time loving God with all four of their human modalities: heart, soul, mind, and strength—emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and physical. Things have not worked out in their lives as they expected. They believe they have been uniquely faithful to God. But, they now believe He has failed to hold up His end of the bargain.
These dear ones are, in fact—deep in the core of their beings—angry at God. So, they now live in a way that seems to have created a new god, one who appears quite different than the God they formerly worshipped.
It’s easy for me to think that they should reevaluate the expectations they had of God in the light of Scripture. Of course, it’s easy to criticize from the sidelines when I’m not “walking in their moccasins,” so to speak. I sense the depth of their pain. But, I can’t help but believe they need to reconnect with the true God who loves them.
It is probably a good thing for us to do a spiritual checkup from time to time. Do we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do we love our neighbors as ourselves? Then, we should ask God to help us make the corrections we need to make in our lives. Why? Because Jesus told us that it is very important for us to follow the two greatest commandments.
Perhaps, as we begin a new day, it would be helpful to make today a day for a spiritual checkup. How about it?
