MARK 12:28-34

²⁸And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ​‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ​‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. ³³ And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

EXODUS 20:1-17

¹And God spoke all these words, saying,
² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
³ “You shall have no other gods before me.
⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
⁷ “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
¹³ “You shall not murder.
¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.
¹⁵ “You shall not steal.
¹⁶ “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

10 POINTS TO PONDER

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, but self-esteem is not. Self-acualization is at the top of Mazlow’s hierarchy, but self-sacrifice is at the top of Jesus’ pyramid of priorities.

Satan’s lie to Eve and Adam was that if they could just free themselves from God’s “burdensome commands” then they could become just like Him.

You are made in the image of God and you are loved and valued by Him so much that He sent His Son to die for you. But on your own, you are not enough.

Prioritizing God means I fit my life around His expectations, not that I fit Him around my expectations.

Loving God with my heart means controlling my desires so that I feed the desires which align with God’s heart and I starve the desires that don’t.

Loving God with my soul means choosing an attitude that is the same as the attitude of Jesus. I don’t allow my attitude to be controlled by circumstances, but rather I control my attitude regardless of circumstancs.

Loving God with my mind means my own understanding takes backseat to God’s understanding. My experience doesnt’ determine my path, God’s wisdom determines my path My opinion doesn’t determine truth, God’s Word determines truth.

Loving God with my strength means I give God my first and best in everything I do.

Loving my neighbor as myself means I might love other people as much or more than I love myself, but I absolutely may not love other people less than I love myself.

Focusing on others means I pay attention to the opportunities God gives me to make the lives of others better.

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WHAT YOU GIVE AWAY IS A DEMONSTRATION OF WHAT YOU LOVE

The statement in the title is a very loose paraphrase of Jesus’ words:

This morning I was thinking about some other ways I might say the same thing to help me focus a little bit on what this truth means for me today.  Some of the thoughts I had were:

– If you want to know what you love, look at what you accumulate
– The words “I love you” only go as far as the action “I sacrifice for you”
– Jesus said the greatest love is that of giving one’s life away. Then He did just that.
– If you don’t keep track of it, you don’t love it.
– Your calendar, your checkbook, and your GPS history are the best record of what you love.

Of course, the greatest challenge is learning to love God more than all things.  Jesus said to love Him with all our HEART, SOUL, MIND, and STRENGTH.  So, my question for myself today is this:

In each of these areas, what can I give up as a demonstration of my love for God?

• Heart –> Do I let relationships with other people hamper my spritual growth?
• Soul –> Do my emotions keep me from living a God-honoring life?
• Mind –> Am I reading (surfing websites) that are detrimental to my relationship with God?
• Strength –> Do I have health habits that prevent me from living as God desires?

Remember: What you give away is a demonstration of what you love.

Who do you love? What are you giving away?

Click on the image to download the DiscipleQuest PDF

The DiscipleQuest PDF includes 7 days of verse study prompts. You can use these seven studies to dig deeper into what the Bible teaches making God your top priority:

• Matthew 6:33
• Romans 12:2
• Luke 12:34
• 2 Timothy 2:22
• Ecclesiastes 12:1
• Psalm 37:4
• Proverbs 3:5-6

Use these questions as journal prompts or as conversation starters with a group of friends or a Bible study group:

1. When you hear Jesus say the greatest command is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, which part feels easiest for you right now? Which part feels hardest? Why?
2. Think about your relationships this past week. When was it easy to love someone? When was it difficult?
3. Jesus connects loving God and loving your neighbor (v.31). Why do you think He treats these two commands as inseparable?
4. Why do you think Jesus places love for God as a higher value than love for others?
5. Read Deuteronomy 6:4–5 and Leviticus 19:18 (the passages Jesus is quoting). What does this tell us about what God has always wanted from His people?
6. If someone looked at your priorities—your time, conversations, and decisions—what evidence would they see that you truly love God?
7. Who is one “neighbor” in your life right now who is difficult to love? What makes loving them challenging?
8. Jesus says loving others should reflect the same kind of concern we naturally have for ourselves. In what ways do you tend to prioritize yourself over others?
9. What is one practical way you can intentionally express your love for God this week? (Examples: prayer, obedience, worship, generosity, sharing your faith.)
10. What is one specific action you can take this week to show love to a particular person God has placed in your life?