Two Commandments - Laurel Bobbitt

Have you ever felt overwhelmed in the Christian life? I’ve been there often! It feels like

there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish all the tasks that have to be done.

Sometimes I look at my own life and “to-do” list and feel like it is just too much to handle. It is

then that I need this truth found in Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the

Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and

great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On

these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

The Bible is full of commandments and instructions for our lives. So many bad

decisions could have been prevented by simply following Biblical principles instead of feelings.

According to Jesus, the most important commandments we need to follow are found in this

passage. If I can focus on just these two, everything else will fall into place.

The first and greatest command, according to Jesus, is to love God with all my heart, all

my soul, and all my mind. I am commanded to love Him with everything I have and everything I

am. To love God is to obey Him. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my

commandments.” If obedience is how I show my love for Him, then I must know His Word. The

Bible is so important! I’m obeying Him, I will walk with Him and bring every care to Him. Decide

to yield your heart, soul, and mind daily to Him and love Him with everything you have. For

example, personally, I feel the battles in my own Christian life are most often in my mind.

Recently, I’ve been working to love the Lord with my mind by yielding my mind to Him every

morning (sometimes more!) What I think about matters! When thoughts or feelings that do not

line up with God’s Word come into my mind (fear, anxiety, etc) it is my job to turn to Scripture

and replace those thoughts with God’s Word. Love Him with your heart, soul, and mind!

The second commandment Jesus mentions is to love our neighbor as ourselves. The

first and closest “neighbor” that we have is our family. We ought to love our family members

well. Take special care not to speak cruelly or negatively to or about your family. They are the

“neighbors” that you interact with the most and know the best, and they ought to know you

love and care for them. Love your husband. Work at loving him. Leave him notes. Send him

texts throughout the day. Plan special times together. Make sure he knows he is SO LOVED by

you. Love your children. Spend time with them, play with them, do fun little things that you

know they enjoy. Other “neighbors” that we can love include church members, physical

neighbors, and friends. When I am feeling down, one of my favorite things to do as a pick-me-

up is to look for someone to love. If you ask God to put someone in your path who needs a

little extra love, I’m sure He will! Whether it’s praying for someone, sending a text, calling a

friend, sending a note in the mail, buying a $5 gift card and delivering it to someone who is

going through a hard time, loving others helps me as much as it helps them!

Today, as you go throughout the day, don’t get overwhelmed by your list. Love God;

love others. That is my job today, and it is your job too. I can filter everything I do through that

short list. Is this helping me love God? Is it helping me love others?