What is the most important commandment?
by Pastor Glenn Crouch
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30).
As you read through the Ten Commandments in Luther’s Small Catechism, you will notice that in each and every reply to ‘what does this mean for us?’, he begins: ‘We should honour and love God …’. Go grab a small catechism and read through the Ten Commandments, and you will see how today’s passage (and the similar one in Matthew 22:34–40) echoes through Luther’s comments. As we go through the commandments that give us instructions on ‘how to love our neighbour’, notice they are always tied to the first requirement: honour and love God.
So how do we love God? Well, the Small Catechism argues that one good way is to love our neighbour. Just as a mirror shows us what a mess our hair is or that we have spinach caught in our teeth – and thus can fix the situation – so God’s law is good at showing us how we are failing when it comes to loving God and loving our neighbour. But rather than lead us to despair, we turn back to our baptism and, at the foot of the cross, we receive forgiveness.
On this Reformation Day, it is good to remember the first of the 95 Theses: When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent’, he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.
So let us daily come back to our baptism, let us daily receive forgiveness, and may we daily follow the Holy Spirit as he gently shows us how to love God and love our neighbour.
Heavenly Father, I want to love you more! I want to love those who you have placed around me. Forgive me for how often I fail in these areas. Help me to better follow your Spirit as he leads me, through your word, to love you and love my neighbour. Amen.
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