In Matthew 22:37–39, Jesus gives us the two greatest commandments:
“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.”
I hear people quote this passage all the time. It’s beautiful. It’s simple. But today, I want to talk about a hard truth: most people use this verse as a free pass to sin.
Loving God Comes First
Jesus didn’t start with “love your neighbor.” He started with love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. That’s full devotion. It means surrendering your will, your desires, and your priorities to Him.
If I say I love God but live for myself, I’m lying to myself. Scripture says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Loving God is more than a warm feeling—it’s obedience. It’s putting Him first in my thoughts, choices, and actions.
True Love for Others Flows From Loving God
The second commandment, love your neighbor as yourself, can only be lived out correctly if the first one is in place. Without loving God first, our “love” for others turns into compromise.
I’ve seen so many people—friends, even churches—skip straight to the second commandment and twist it into “I just need to be nice and affirm everyone.” But real love doesn’t affirm sin or leave people in darkness. If I truly love my neighbor, I want them to know the freedom and life that comes from walking with Christ.
For a clear, biblical explanation, I recommend reading love your neighbor as yourself from GotQuestions.
The Cultural Misinterpretation
Here’s where the problem comes in: our culture has hijacked the Greatest Commandment. People claim, “Well, Jesus said to love your neighbor, so I can do what I want as long as I’m not hurting anyone.”
But that’s not what Jesus meant. Loving your neighbor doesn’t mean approving of sin or ignoring God’s truth. It doesn’t mean flying flags at churches that celebrate rebellion against His Word. It doesn’t mean staying silent while the world runs further from Him.
We see the same pattern when it comes to speaking truth in the public square. Just like in my blog on Big Tech is silencing Christians and conservatives, the world wants believers to stay quiet and call it “love.” But real love speaks the truth, even when it’s unpopular.
When we love God first, we see clearly that love for others is rooted in truth. Anything else is just cultural “niceness” dressed up as Christianity.
A Personal Challenge
I’ve had to ask myself: Am I loving God first, or am I trying to write my own version of Christianity?
If I love God with all my heart, I obey Him even when it’s unpopular. I speak truth in love even when the world calls it hateful. And when I love my neighbor, I love them enough to point them toward Christ—not toward the things that keep them in bondage.
The Greatest Commandment is not a free pass to live life on your own terms. It’s a call to love God fully and let that love transform how you love others.
Are you truly living it?
Arch Kennedy
Bold, Unfiltered, and Unafraid
Big Tech Is Silencing Christians and Conservatives
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