Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to “the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And the second commandment is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I think the focus on loving people has been lost. It starts by each person loving people. We need to help people feel loved and respected because that’s what Jesus did and God wants us to model what Jesus did. We are to see the good that is inside other people, build a relationship with them and demonstrate a love that is a reflection of God’s love.

I think somewhere along the journey we forget about loving our neighbor as ourselves. We think that going to church week after week and worshiping God is all we need to do. However, showing God how much we love Him goes much further and deeper than that. One of the ways for us to love God first is to love what He loves – the people He has made. Put action to your words. Influence your world. Make a difference in someone’s life. Demonstrate your love for God by giving. Giving a little bit of your time is the most precious thing you can do. Make a phone call, bake a cake, send a card are just a few things we can do to let someone know that we are thinking about them. In loving others, you are loving God. When you do something for someone, you show God that what is important to Him is also important to you.

Love God. Love people. Do something with the life that you have been blessed with. Take pleasure in putting a smile on someone’s face. Demonstrating your love for others shows God that you truly love Him with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind because you are honoring the first and greatest commandment.