Day 32: Mark 12:28-34

I love that Jesus gives a bonus answer here. When asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” He answers with the acceptable Scripture: “Love the LORD you God…” But then he says there is a second commandment that is equally important. The Pharisees loved to put on a show at how pious they were and how much they “loved” God. They made sure to obey all the religious statutes, and they made sure everyone knew they obeyed all those regulations. But they were severely lacking when it came to the 2nd commandment. They thought that their strict obedience to the 1st commandment somehow exempted them from having to obey the 2nd.

When you truly love someone the things that are important to them become important to you. And nothing is more important to God than people. God cares about how we treat others because he cares for and loves every single one of them. Look at how John explains it in 1 John 4:11-12: “Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”

What does this mean? That we can say we love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength, but we show it by how we love others. People see God, not in his physical form, but by seeing his love expressed through us. That is why loving your neighbor as yourself is equally important to loving God.