There is nothing more basic to the Christian life than keeping the twin commandments of love. “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul and mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These fulfill the law God gave to Moses on tablets of stone, and they also summarize Jesus’ teaching on living the beatitudes. But as we all know, the twin commandments are much easier to recite than to put into practice.
To love God doesn’t mean we are always smiling and readily accepting of everything that happens under heaven… including heartaches, losses, and the crosses we are asked to carry. To love God means we place God at the center of our lives, and we try to please Him in everything. And to love our neighbor doesn’t mean we have to like them, agree with them, or empty our pockets for them. To love our neighbor means we regard their dignity and well being as on par with our own, and we serve him or her as if our neighbor were Christ himself. These two commandments actually blend into one because we really can’t love God with our whole being unless we love the people he created and redeemed in Christ.