First of all: love. And second of all: love.
In these two short sentences, Jesus sums up the whole of the Old Testament’s teaching. All the laws, histories, psalms and prophecies were not meant to create a people who were full of self righteous pride for their religious box ticking. It was intended to create a people who wholeheartedly loved God, and then selflessly loved their fellow man. This passage comes from Mark 12:28-31, with very similar incidents reported in Matthew 22 and Luke 10.
It holds true for every Christian. We are meant to love God more than any other thing. To love him radically, passionately, and more and more each day. To desire more than anything else to serve and obey him, to know him better, and to give our lives for his purposes. And not because we’re just nice like that, but because he loved us long before we ever heard of him. Praise him, serve him, give him all the glory. Believe, repent, and be baptised. Break bread and share wine in remembrance of the sacrifice he made for us.
And then love one another. You can’t ignore this one – the first doesn’t make sense without the second. If you truly love God, you will want to do his will – and his will is unambiguously to selflessly love other people. Tend to the wounded. Feed the hungry. Comfort the oppressed, give rest to the weary, be mothers and fathers to the orphan. Tell them the gospel, because there is nothing more loving than to share the good news of Jesus. Just, you know, love people.
I’m self absorbed, prone to put my own comfort first, to put other idols before the God I love, to turn a blind eye to those in need. But by the grace of God, I’m slowly learning to love him more, and slowly learning to give more of myself to love others. How the world needs more men, women and children who would love – and then love.