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“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:36–40, MEV

Our relationship with God affects our relationships with others. This is the reality that we all struggle against. If we could always keep the first commandment, all other commandments would easily be kept. The issue is we often put something else in the place of God, and our affections fall down a dark path away from God. Our minds become full of ideas like “Do what makes you happy!” or “Be true to yourself!” Ideas like these lead us into paths of idolatry and emptiness, and we can see the consequences of this in the relationships surrounding us. As God is placed in the center of our lives, we will find Him in the center of our relationships. Those relationships centered in our Lord will strengthen, and those centered in self will fall away. This is the meaning of the Lord’s Words and is a reminder for us as we seek to place our love with our Lord and let Him guide us on the paths to His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.