Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39, NKJV))

When a teacher of the law asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment, Jesus gave an answer that went beyond what the questioner expected. All the commandments of the law could be summarized under the word ‘love’. The Greek verb used here for “love” is not phileo, which expresses friendly affection, but agapao, the commitment of devotion that is directed by the will and can be ‘commanded‘ as a duty.

Our first responsibility is to love God; the second is to love one’s fellow human beings. The fact that we are ‘commanded‘ to love shows that love is primarily a matter of action or deed, not feeling. It is an attitude of loyal obedience that governs our mind, will, and emotion.

Sources:

MySword for Android. Riversoft Ministry, 2011-2019.

The NKJV Bible

http://www.biblegateway.com

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