Day 1 — The Greatest Commandment

“Jesus declared, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

— Matthew 22:37–40 (BSB)

One day, an expert in God’s law asked Jesus a tricky question: “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”

That was a big question! The Old Testament has hundreds of commands. Rules about worship, food, families, money, farming, and much more. Which one was most important? People argued about it all the time.

Jesus answered with two commandments.

First: love God “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Not just a little bit of you. All of you. Your feelings, your life, your thoughts. God wants to be first in everything.

Second: love your neighbor as yourself. Think about how much you care about yourself. You feed yourself when you’re hungry. You take care of yourself when you’re hurt. You want good things for yourself. Jesus says to care about other people like that.

Then Jesus said something amazing: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Imagine a coat rack with two big hooks. Everything in the whole Bible hangs on those two hooks. If you love God and love people, you’re doing what every other command is really about.

Here’s a way to picture it with our tree. Love for God is like roots going down deep. Love for people is like branches reaching out. A tree needs both! Roots with no branches would be strange and bare. Branches with no roots would dry up and die.

The first four books of Rooted were mostly about the roots: knowing God and growing close to Him. This book is about the branches: how God’s love reaches out through you to your family, your friends, your church and the world.

And notice the order. Loving God comes first. When you’re connected to God, His love fills you up so much that it spills over onto others.

Think about it: Why do you think Jesus put loving God first and loving your neighbor second? How are they connected?

Try this: Draw a tree in your notebook with roots and branches. Label the roots “Love God” and the branches “Love people.” Write the names of people you want to love better on the branches.

Dear God, I want to love You with all my heart, soul and mind. Fill me up with Your love so much that it spills over onto the people around me. Help me love my neighbors as myself. In Jesus’ name, Amen.