Love changes us.
In Deuteronomy 6:4-6, Moses instructs the Israelites to listen to God and love God with their whole being. Known as the Shema, it is a confession. The hearers of Jesus know it by heart. They pray it every day.
Yet they and we often hear these words of Jesus as an external command, an imperative which we are ordered to do. With God’s help we try our best to obey. And we fail. We mess up. This seems to be the heart of the matter. Yet, something is possible, even if we mess up.
As we keep company with Jesus, we discover that not only does his love fill our hearts but our desires and motivations change. Our shame and fears begin to heal. The desire to love and act out of love comes from the inside out. Christ loving us compels us to love others with just action, mercy, compassion and humility. And we begin to extend that same love to ourselves too.
May the pause you take to pray, create space for an encounter with Perfect Love.
Matthew 22:34-46 (NLT)
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
They replied, “He is the son of David.”
Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’
Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”
No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
For Reflection and Prayer:
Was there a word, phrase or image which caught your attention you as you listened to or slowly read the text? Quietly savor this with Jesus.
Notice any felt sense that seems to emerge as you linger with this passage. It might come as a bodily feeling, emotion, metaphor, picture, gesture or sound. See if you can describe it and simply be with it with patient curiosity.
Perhaps you might want to draw, color or journal your conversation.
As the time of prayer comes to a close, share some quiet moments with Jesus, simply resting safely in his presence.