Matthew 22:37-40

Above all Love!

Love is not a feeling…it is an action.

Matthew 22:37-40

37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

The heart, soul, and mind collectively represent the whole person; one should love God with total love and devotion. The commands to love God and others do not replace the instructions of the Law or the teaching of the Prophets. Rather, obedience to this twofold commandment fulfills the essence of their teaching. Faithlife Bible.

To answer the lawyer’s question, Jesus quoted from the great Jewish confession of faith called the Shema. The confession is called this because it begins with the Hebrew word shema meaning “hear:” “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” The heart, soul, and mind represent the whole person. Because we love ourselves, we want the best for ourselves; likewise, we should be concerned for the welfare of others.

The Ten Commandments can be divided into two categories: those dealing with love for God (the first four Commandments) and those dealing with responsibilities toward other people (the last six Commandments). The same may be said for all the Law and the Prophets. NKJ Bible.

Matthew 7:12 | Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Leviticus 19:18 | You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 6:5 | You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 10:12 | “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronomy 30:6 | And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.