“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

  The first of the commandments might seem selfish, and before I met Jesus, I al ways thought it was odd that God would be petty enough to have the first law be about putting Him first. I thought it was obnoxiously self-serving and self-centered. “Why would an all-powerful god demand love or be that self-centered?” was what I asked. 

  Years later, I met Jesus, and I realized that the first commandment was for us.

  When Jesus was asked what is the most important law, Jesus answered “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40

The Pharisees and Sadducees asked for one law, yet Jesus gave them two. To Jesus, these two are intertwined and inseparable. To love God is to love your neighbors. To explain, anything can become a god in our lives. Games, money, comfort, or anything can become our gods if we come to love them more than we love God. If we come to worship something or someone other than God, we would be willing to harm others. How? Everyone was made in the image of God. Would it be thinkable to spit on our mothers’ pictures? Then how much more, if we loved God the most, would it be unthinkable to swindle, harm, hurt, or kill the images of God for money, power, or anything else? Truly I tell you, putting God first is the key to loving each other.

  We all need to put God first, for it is the key to serving each other.