The Greatest Commandment

Galatians 5:14 “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””

If I were to ask you what the greatest commandments were, what would you say?

Jesus said that the greatest commandments were

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””

‭‭I think that is a pretty solid standard to live by: Love God with all you are and put Him first, and love your neighbor as yourself.

But if you read in the book of Galatians, Paul says “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

So why does Paul seem to contradict Jesus here? Or does he? Who is right? The apostle Paul, or Jesus the God of all?

If you put God first, everything else will fall into place. But if you do not put God first then every little thing unravels. If God is not first, then you cannot love your neighbor as yourself. If God is not first you cannot love anyone properly. If God is not first then every relationship, every interaction, every conversation, every thought will start off on the wrong foot.

You put God first, though, and everything else will fall into order. This is why Paul said loving your neighbor sums up the law. Because if you can truly love your neighbor the way that you should, then God is firmly in first place of your life.