Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” —Mark 12:30–31

A man once asked Jesus, “What is most important to God?”

Essentially he was saying “Jesus, there are so many rules cluttering our life—which is most important?”

Jesus kept it simple: “Love God and love people.”

Your heavenly Father wants to live in relationship with you and wants you to live in healthy relationships with others.

But—notice—it starts with Him. It begins with knowing and loving your heavenly Father, then living out in community. Like every other significant relationship, this kind of love engages our entire being:

Our heart (our passion)
Our soul (our self-consciousness)
Our mind (our intellect) and
Our strength (everything we do bodily).

Every part of who we are, every place we are, each day.

Here is the place of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wholeness: Love God and love those made in his image.

Simple.

Bill Herried is lead pastor at CenterPoint Christian Fellowship in Tacoma, Washington. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, and Master of Divinity from Corban University in Salem, Oregon. He is married to the most extraordinary woman on the planet. Together they have 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren, and he loves a good biryani. Bill invites you to learn more on Your Daily Encouragement

Image by Charles McArthur from Pixabay