THE SECOND GREATEST COMMAND GIVEN BY THE LORD

A scribe asked the Lord, “Which is the first commandment of all?” “Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31 NKJV). The “first”, foremost, chief and greatest commandment is for a person to love God with all of one’s being. This is the vertical relationship that mankind can have with Almighty God. This is the most important commitment that a person can ever make. The second commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”, is horizontal, it is our relationship with our neighbor. The fulfillment of the second command is predicated upon one being in submission to the first commandment. The apostle John wrote, “And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (John 4:21). John also wrote; “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20)? As you can plainly see, these commandments are closely bound together. Now if this is true regarding our brother and sister in Jesus Christ, would not the same principle be applicable concerning our relationship with our neighbor who is made in the image of God?. A certain lawyer asked the Lord, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus told the story of a man who had been stripped of all his clothing and severely beaten and left for dead. Two of the leaders among the Jews saw him and kept walking; however, a Samaritan stopped and gave aid to him as well as additional future help (Luke 10:25-37). An important lesson in this story is that whoever is in trouble or is in need is our neighbor and not just the ones who live near us. This love (Greek, Agape), is defined as being, “affection, good-will, love, benevolence: Of the love of men to men; especially that love of Christians toward Christians” (Thayer Greek English Lexicon). This love cannot be legislated by the government or by any human organization. This love has to come from a heart that possesses the love for God. The apostle Paul wrote “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the Law.” Paul mentions varies commandments that one should keep and then he wrote, “And if there is any other commandments, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” He also wrote, “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10). This statement is so profound! This love is greatly needed in our world today and in our own nation. There is so much hatred in the hearts of many people. There is “harm” being manifested by evil deeds done by individuals and groups. In contrast, people who have the love of God in their hearts will only do good to their neighbors. This love is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Love is “a more excellent way” and its characteristics are found in 1 Corinthians 12:31;13:4-7. One characteristic of love is being kind to one another which is greatly lacking in our society today!. In closing, remember, “And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).