All true standards come from God. He’s perfect. If there were no God, how would we know good from evil? God gave us the Ten Commandments so we would know what’s right and wrong.
Do you know anyone who has kept all Ten Commandments? We’ve all broken one or more of them. Only Jesus Christ kept God’s law perfectly. That’s why God the Father accepted the sacrifice of God the Son when he died for our sins on a wooden cross.
When religious leaders asked the Lord which commandment was most important, Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. Then he added that to love your neighbor as yourself is like the first commandment.
If you love God, you should also love people. The Apostle John wrote that if God showed his love to us by sending his Son to die for our sins, then “we also must love each other” (1 John 4:11).
God said he is a jealous God. How can God be jealous and be good? When people are jealous, it’s usually a bad thing because they are selfish. But God is not selfish. He loves us, and he wants the best for us. He knows that if we love anyone or anything more than him, we will be unhappy.
God’s perfect love motivates him to give to us. No one knows us better than God because he made us. If we love God, he will show us more and more the wonderful plans he has for us. If we truly love God, we will trust him. If we doubt God’s love, we will look for love in the wrong places.
Think About This: People who love God don’t need commandments. When we know that God loves us, we don’t want to disappoint him.
Memorize This Truth: Jesus answered, “`Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and most important command” (Matthew 22:37-38).