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Often, I hear people say that the most important message that Jesus gave his followers was the charge to ‘love one another.’ And while this is basically true, perhaps a review of what was recorded in the scriptures regarding this subject is worth revisiting.

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they 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 neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Sometimes in our zeal to be ‘ever loving’, we might be tempted to swap these two ‘great’ commands and place the ‘neighbor’ in the number one slot and ‘God’ in slot number two.

This ‘swap’ of the commandments can take shape in many different shapes and forms, too diverse to ever approach. Loving our fellowmen is obviously at the core of being a follower of Christ. But, we might find we are in error when we place commandment two over one. Are we guilty, at times, of excusing inappropriate behavior in our fellowmen and sometimes even promoting that behavior under the guise of loving all? Do we want to love another more than the Lord? It’s a thought to ponder on!