A couple years ago a friend of mine was helping me tile my kitchen/dining room area. We had pulled up all the previous flooring. We had prepped and leveled the floor. We were all set to start the install.
My friend carefully and thoughtfully laid down the first tile. He checked and re-checked that it was square to the room. I was almost annoyed how long it was taking him. Then he turned to me and said, “We have to get this one right. If we get this first one
wrong, well we won’t get any of the rest of the tiles right.”
When Jesus tells us the 2 most important things in life, he is very purposeful about the order. Jesus tells us that the most important thing in life is that God is God alone and that we are to give him everything we’ve got. Before we learn anything else, before we love or help anyone else, before we do good, or fall in love or change the world – We have to love God with our everything.
I think Jesus puts the two commandments in this order because if we get the first one wrong, we’ll get everything else wrong too. If we don’t love God with our whole heart, mind, strength, then we won’t be able to fully love ourselves and others. If we don’t put God first in our lives, then we will ultimately put ourselves first and won’t be able to serve, sacrifice, and love well.
Can you be a good person without God? I think you can do good things without God, but I think we get our identify from God or we don’t. If we don’t get our identity from God, we aren’t as good or perfect or excellent as we could be.
If we want to be selfless, world changing, doers of the ultimate good, then we must love God with everything we’ve got. If want to follow Jesus, we have to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength. If we get that right, by God’s grace, then we can get loving others right too.
LIVE IT:
Every time you start your car between now and Sunday Mass, pray this, “God grant me the grace to love you with my whole heart, mind, and strength. Help me love others as I love myself.” Then look to see how God shows you how to love him and love others.
HNOJ Good Word 