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What distracts you the most? We often face challenges and distractions that can make it difficult to keep our focus on what really matters. We can get so caught up in getting the best grades, being the best athlete or musician, and getting wrapped up in our own stuff that we lose sight of the importance of loving God and loving others. It is not like we don’t think those things are important, we know they are, but so are the others things. How can we juggle it all?

In Matthew 22:34–39, we see a group of Pharisees (the people everyone looked to for leadership and guidance) trying to trap Jesus by asking him which is the greatest commandment in the Law. Can you imagine someone trying to outsmart Jesus? In the ultimate boss move, Jesus says something they didn’t expect when he says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And that the second is just like it: love your neighbor as yourself.

Do you think Jesus oversimplified it? What does it mean to love God and to love others as yourself? When we love God and love others, it establishes the lens in which we view the world and how we interact with it. We become more compassionate to others and extend grace. We build our relationship with God through prayer, making daily decisions that point others to God, and loving others the way Jesus did.