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The Two Most Important Things


We live in a world of diversions and distractions. Ambition takes hold of us and many gods seek our attention. Quickly we become self focused as we seek to achieve our own dreams. The problem is not that we should have a vision, but that so often as Christians we abandon the two most important things in life. Jesus said, "the most important commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul." (Mark 12:30). This is the first and greatest commandment; to love Christ with all your being and put Him first above all things. In Italy, people define themselves first and foremost as Catholics, as Christians. Their nationality and race are secondary to their relationship with Jesus. The second commandment is like the first, "love your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27).

Many people will not fulfill these two commissions. They will not love the Creator of the Universe or their fellow human beings. Some will excel in one or the other. They will either be close to God, but social hermits and aloof to their neighbor and friends or they will be a socialite that spends all their time with people and not enough time in prayer talking to God. Make no mistake, these are not commands like the rules we must observe at a pool or the major edicts of our governments that come with fines or jail time if we fail to observe them. In both the commands the axis and method is love. We are suppose to be compelled by love for our Lord to want to connect and enmesh ourselves in Him in every facet of our being: heart, mind, body, and soul. 

Then once we have been taught to truly love in our Lord, we can love our neighbor, friends, and family as we love ourselves. This second command is easily impended when we do not love ourselves. For those who self loath and self deprecate, loving someone as yourself is a negative. In that case, you will need to learn from your Savior and Creator to look at yourself with Heaven's Eyes and love who you are before you can love someone else.

The world is at war with both of the most important things in this life. Empires seek to take our freedoms of worshiping our God and loving him both publicly and privately. Loving your neighbor is harder than ever if you do not live in a small town. With the advent of technology like tablets and smartphones, a whole generation is lost in cyberspace and cannot even notice their neighbor. Satan has been cunning, he has gotten us to be so distracted by fueling our own egos and playing with electronics, that we now have little time to commune with Christ and connect with people around us.

It is time for us to reconnect to our God and to the people around us. It make take radical steps such as giving up devices or it may just take a resolve to put away your smartphone when you are out with people. When I visited Tennessee, Generation X and Y did not use their phones except to find their friends or to take a picture. You did not see teenagers on their cellphones ignoring their families at theme parks or texting out and about. There was a balance, a respect and responsibility that people practiced. They took seriously these two most important commands of Christ. They take seriously loving God and loving people.

Let us take seriously the words of our Savior and stop making excuses. You can build your empire of business or create your masterpiece, but in the end it is all in vain without loving Jesus Christ and loving other people. Love, not pride and glory is the most important thing on Earth. Loving God and your fellow man is what will transcend to the next life. All your great feats and achievements will mean nothing if they were not cloaked and done from a position of love. So resolve to heed Jesus' words and resolve to do the two most important things in this life.

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