Biblical Answer

The Greatest Commandment

Jesus teaches that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of one's being, including the mind (Matthew 22:37). This commandment is emphasized in the Shema, which states, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" (Luke 10:27). Jesus demonstrated what it means to fulfill this commandment by showing that a human being can love God with their entire being, including their thoughts and actions.

The mind is a crucial part of loving God, as Jesus emphasizes when he says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). Jesus is saying that our strength is in our mind, and that we should use our minds to love God. This means that we should think about God, reason about God, and understand God's will. Our thoughts and actions should be guided by our love for God.

The greatest commandment is not just about our heart attitude or personal relationship with God, but also about our deeds. Jesus teaches that we should love our neighbors as ourselves, and that this is a fundamental aspect of loving God (Matthew 22:39). When we love our neighbors, we are showing our love for God, because we are treating them as God would have us treat them. Therefore, the greatest commandment is a commandment that is greater than any other commandment, because it encompasses both our love for God and our love for our neighbors. Jesus does not abrogate all other commandments of the law, but rather, the commandment to love God and to love our neighbors is the foundation upon which all other commandments are built.