Mark 12: 28-34
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
No matter how often we hear this commandment, it continues to present a life-long challenge. We think we love God with all our hearts, but when it comes time to yoke this commandment with love of neighbor, we find ourselves with concrete evidence of how are short of the goal we are. Some people are just plain and simple "hard to love." Bending over backwards to comply with their demands is not enough. In their eyes we are always wrong, and being "civil" makes only for a temporary truce. Yet, the command is to love them. It seems only with God's grace is this possible. May we not give up and rely more on grace than on our puny efforts.
Bro. Rene
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