Matthew 22:37-40 of the New Testament shows how obeying the first
two commandments fulfills all the others.
37. And He [Jesus] said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38. “This is the great and foremost commandment.
39. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself’
40. “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the
Prophets.”
Jesus simplifies what humans seem to complicate. In essence He is
saying that it all comes down to love: First love God; then love others.
It is obvious that if we love others, we won’t break the rest of the
commandments. Yet, to this day many people tend to make something
complicated out of something simple.
A lot of people mouth the words but don’t really act on them. They
say they love God, but by buckling under to “social pressure” they prove
that they love the opinion of other people more than they love the Lord.
They also end up “making God in their own image” by finding passages in
the Bible to excuse their tendency to live in self-indulgence rather
than to try to live by a higher standard, as expressed by Jesus’
statement, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do
because I go to the Father.” (John 14:12)
If we really love the Lord, we will try to learn to live in a way
pleasing to Him, and to care for all of His creation – without
exception.
