This week's devotion is entitled:

The Two Commandments

Jesus replied, " `You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
~Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT)

I want to talk to you guys about what I like to call the Two Commandments. In the passage above, the Pharisees have been trying to trip Jesus up with their questions, and one of them has asked Jesus what the most important commandment is.

Jesus gave them an answer that sent them home pouting, but that's not the point. I want to talk about how we can follow those commandments in four steps.

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. You took the first step here when you became a Christian, but this is an everyday journey. If you ever find yourself angry with God, or having trouble loving Him, just remember that He is never angry with you and He never has trouble loving you. Think about how much Jesus loved you to die on the cross for you and suffer all of that for you. Remember how much He loves you, and then love Him.

2. All your Soul. According to dictionary.com, a "soul" is "the animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity." It is also defined as "the central or integral part, the vital core." So if your soul is the deepest, most vital part of your being and is the culmination of your thoughts, actions, and emotions--and you are to love God with all your soul--you should love God at your very core. Your thoughts, actions, and emotions should reflect your love for Him.

3. All your Mind. If you should love God with all of your mind, then you should love Him with all of your thoughts. You should include Him in all of your plans, pray to Him constantly, and other things of that nature.

4. Love your Neighbor as Yourself. I like it when some people ask "who's my neighbor?" because it's easy to answer: EVERYONE! But before you can love your neighbor, you have to love yourself. So don't ever be too hard on yourself, don't ever sweat the small stuff, and remember that you are God's creation and God's child. Then you can love other people. Love them with kind words and kind actions, and show them God's love. No matter what situation you find yourself in with another person, ask yourself honestly what Jesus would do, and you'll know that you should love them.