“Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” – Mark 12:29-31

What is love? How do you define it? I think love is one of the topics Jesus stressed the most in his short ministry. Here He talks about 2 kinds of love, or 2 people we are to love.

1) Love God. This is our vertical relationship. Jesus was stressing to his followers and those skeptics that what he was teaching was not a religion, but a relationship. That was the most important thing. It wasn’t a set of rules you had to follow, but love God with all your passion, all your soul, all you intelligence, and all you energy. That’s everything you got!

2) Love your neighbor. This is our horizontal relationship. So, who is your neighbor? It’s everyone you come in contact with. What’s the ultimate way to show love? Give your life up. ‘There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ – John 15:13 Why should we love like this? Because of what Jesus did for us. ‘We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.’ -1 John 3:16.

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus taught love and showed love. How are you going to show love?