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Matthew 22:37-39

马太福音 22:37-39

The Passage

Jesus said to him, ''You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

In the other language

耶稣对他说：你要尽心、尽性、尽意爱主―你的神。这是诫命中的第一，且是最大的。其次也相仿，就是要爱人如己。

Theme

The great commandment

Bring a question to this passage

Many readers arrive here from a real question. These are reflections for how this passage speaks to the questions people bring most often — not an answer about what will happen, but an invitation to sit with it slowly.

How do I face this season of pressure at work?

When everything feels urgent, these words give you a center: love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. They do not settle which deadline to meet first, but they offer a measure deeper than productivity. Your colleagues remain people, even when their requests feel like obstacles. You also remain a person, not merely a resource to be used until empty. Loving God with your mind includes bringing your attention and judgment to the work before you. Loving your neighbor need not mean agreeing to every demand. Where is pressure making it difficult to regard either yourself or a colleague with care?

Carry thisLove remains a measure deeper than how much you produce.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

I want to learn to love better in this relationship.

Jesus places love at the center: love for God with your whole being, and love for your neighbor as yourself. The person in this relationship is not a problem to solve or a means of meeting your needs, but someone to love. The words 'as yourself' also leave room for your own dignity; loving better does not require treating your needs as worthless. You might begin by attending to the other person's experience with the seriousness you give your own. Love here involves heart, soul, and mind, not merely a feeling you can summon. When you hold this relationship before God, what would it mean to give the other person's experience the same care and attention you give your own?

Carry thisTheir dignity and yours both matter in learning to love.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

What do I need to let go of in the coming weeks?

Love gives this passage its measure of what matters. Jesus names love for God with your whole heart, soul, and mind, alongside love for your neighbor as yourself. As you ask what to let go of, you can bring your commitments before that measure without assuming every difficult responsibility should disappear. Some things are demanding because they express love; others consume your attention while leaving little room for it. The invitation is not to become endlessly available or to treat yourself as unimportant. It is to notice what draws your life away from wholehearted love. Which attachment or habit is making it harder for you to love God, your neighbor, and yourself?

Carry thisLove offers a measure for what deserves your attention.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

How can I find stillness in a busy life?

Love is the center of the commandments Jesus names: love for God with your whole being, and love for your neighbor as yourself. This passage does not prescribe a practice of stillness, but it gives you a way to examine the demands filling your day. Not every demand is an expression of love, and love is not measured only by how much you accomplish. A pause can be a place to notice the person before you, your own limits, and the attention you bring to God. You need not solve your whole schedule in that moment. This passage prescribes no practice of stillness. When in your busy day could you pause to give loving attention to God or the person beside you?

Carry thisLove is more than the amount you manage to accomplish.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

Have a different question?

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Matthew 22 — in context

31But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,

32‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

33When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

34But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together.

35One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him.

36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”

37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38This is the first and great commandment.

39A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

42saying, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “Of David.”

43He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

44‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?’

45“If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

More from Matthew

Related topics

Relationships and Family

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