If today’s passage seems familiar, it’s because similar thoughts are expressed in several other parts of the Bible. When asked in Matthew 22:36-40 what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered simply: love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. He added that all the Law and the Prophets rest on these two commands.
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So, what exactly does Jesus mean? If you consider the Mosaic Law, particularly the Ten Commandments, the first four deal with loving God more than anything else. The next six focus on how to love others well. Have you heard the old saying, “Love covers a multitude of sins?” While we know Jesus’ work on the cross is actually what covers sin, living out of love keeps us from harming others. In our key passage today, Paul lists examples of what not to do to others. Then he makes his main point clear: love your neighbor as yourself! No need for a checklist!
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The reality is, we can do a lot of good things and look like a really great person but still not love others well in our hearts, thoughts, and actions. Consider the story of the rich young ruler we find in Luke 18. Jesus is questioned by a rich young ruler on how to inherit eternal life, and Jesus provides a similar list of commandments as those in our key passage today. The ruler replies that he has kept them all since childhood. That’s a pretty impressive statement to make. The interesting thing here is Jesus never says the young ruler lied in this claim. Jesus does tell the young ruler that there is still one thing he lacks, and challenges him to sell all he has and give it away to the poor. Then, Jesus says the young man should come follow Him. The man walks away sad because he loved his wealth more than God—and likely more than his neighbors.

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Most of us probably haven’t experienced this young ruler’s particular struggle of too much wealth. But, there’s still a lesson here for all of us. We can easily fill our lives with low-hanging fruit – doing “right things” that don’t challenge us, but make us look nice, similar to the rich young ruler. We could simultaneously be neglecting to truly love those around us. Loving God first and our neighbors as ourselves is what should set believers radically apart from the rest of the world. Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  

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Anything the Bible repeats is worth our serious attention. These two love commandments (God + neighbors) are the major way we walk in obedience to the Lord! It is critical that we love God first. Out of that love for God and through the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit, our hearts and minds are renewed. Then, we become better able to extend the love and grace God gave us to others in a real way.  

Today (and everyday!), let’s ask God to help us love Him first and to extend that love to others in tangible ways. Then, identify one specific way you can show love to a neighbor this week and do it.