What is the Greatest Command?

(Hypothetical Guesser): "The greatest command? That's easy. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. No? Then it has to be giving to the poor and needy. Or what about becoming a missionary, or maybe even a martyr? Definitely! Dying for what you believe in is the greatest thing you could ever do. Still no? Could it be simpler than that? Maybe the greatest command is just to believe, or to have faith... I guess I really don't know. Okay, I give up. What is the greatest command?"


Think about it for a moment. If God could appear and give you one thing to do that was the most important thing in all the universe, one order, one command that surpasses all the others, what would it be? What if God told you the one thing that puts a smile on his face?

Here is the best news of all! God did appear. He came in the form of a man, the Son of God and the Son of Man, Jesus. And he told us what that Greatest Command is. Then he showed us what it means.

"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."
(Mark 12:28-31, NLT)

To sum it up in one word, it's LOVE. The Greatest Command is love. The Bible is one big love letter from God, and in it we can read all about what love is and where love comes from. In the book of First John (read it as soon as you can) it says that love comes from God. More precisely, God is love. So when we love, we are simply reflecting the nature of God. He also says that love is made evident by what we do, not by what we say. Since we can't see God to do anything nice for him (like change his flat tire, bake him a casserole, help pay his utilities or visit him in the hospital), we actually love God by showing love to others - even our enemies.

The only way we could begin to know the real meaning of love is through what Jesus came to do on the earth. Surely, you've heard what Jesus said in John 3:16, God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. That word "gave" means so much. It means that even though Jesus came to love people, to heal people and to invite them to turn away from the love of sin and idolatry, even though he begged them to follow the One who is Real Love, his own people rejected him, beat him up, and nailed his hands and feet to a Roman cross where he lingered six hours before dying.

But God showed his perfect love for his Son, and for us, by raising Jesus up from the grave. Now, because the Son lives by the power of the Father's love, we can live by that same power. There is no fear of death; Heaven is our final destination. To those whose faith is in the resurrected Christ he gives his Spirit of Love while we are on the earth so that we may love like him. We don't love a whole bunch so we can go to heaven, we love because he loved us first (1 John 4:19).

Now you know. The greatest command is LOVE.

God Speaks.
Jesus Lives.
Love Rules.