Read Matthew 22 Jesus interactions with the religious leaders

Jesus said to him, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV)

Do we struggle in seeking to please God? Perhaps the same to others. Here Jesus makes clear it is not whatever we can do to please God as the first consideration in mind but to love Him with all our hearts. This is the centrality of our beings. The compass for our life.

Loving God with all our hearts will cast out all fear for this is the perfect love we will experience. We love our loved ones and we are anxious about their well beings. How at rest our heart will be as we love God wholeheartedly in confidence trust of His best upon their lives. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has bot been made perfect in love. (1John 4:19).

The second will follow when our focus is loving God; we will also be able to love our neighbours. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, (1John 4:7) And this commandment we have rom Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. (1John 4:21) Each person that comes by our path has his or her story to tell, the pain and suffering, the rejection and isolation, the challenges and the anxiety but as we love them and empathise with them, we find ourselves been loved and empathised. Indeed, loving our neighbours is doing ourselves a favour of lifting us out of our own pity party.

The Ten Commandments we see the first five focused on loving God and the second half on relating to men. Jesus had revealed us the simplicity of living out God's command.

Prayer: Lord let me love You because You first love me. That this love would be the motivating factor in whatever I am led to do. Grant that I relate to others out of this love of Yours.

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