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“Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes!” This quote from Psalm 118 is often repeated in Orthodox worship. There’s even a hymn in our morning service, Matins, built around it.

Thinking about God’s statutes might seem pretty daunting. In Judaism, in addition to the Torah, there were over 600 Commandments known as “Mitzvot,” acts that resulted in God’s blessing when fulfilled. So when people ask Jesus about the greatest commandment they’re not always trying to trip him up. Sometimes this question was driven by a sincere desire to know. Thankfully, Jesus gave us a way of streamlining the issue.

When asked about the greatest commandment, Christ offers two that are closely related: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Before we go on, we should note that these two commandments do not appear in sequence in the scriptures. “Love God…” is from Deuteronomy 6, and “Love your neighbor…” is from Leviticus 19.

We often misread that second commandment as “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” That’s not what it says. It says love your neighbor “as yourself.” That’s an important distinction because it’s not just about treating others the way you would treat yourself. Actually, it zeroes in on the fact that all human life is intricately linked.

We need to look at our neighbors’ lives, their joy, their pain, as extensions of our own lives. The second great commandment reminds us that we’re all connected. Whether we are aware of it or not, every life has an impact on the lives of others.

Love in Christ,
+FrAJ