Evaluate Yourself: The First and Greatest Commandment

Evaluate Yourself in Light of the First and Greatest Commandment

There are questions we would rather avoid, because they send us straight back to our own hearts. The one Jesus asks is one of those: who really holds the first place in your life? Not the official place, the one you display at church or on social media, but the real place, the one you defend when no one is watching.

This message opens a series on true Christian discipleship. Before talking about following Jesus, you have to lay the foundation. And the foundation, according to Jesus himself, comes down to a single commandment. This is not a message for your spouse, your friend, or your neighbor. It is a message for you. A message for me. We evaluate ourselves together.

1. A Commandment Jesus Calls "First" and "Greatest"

An expert in the law comes and asks Jesus a question. Jesus turns the question back to him, and the man recites what every devout Jew knows: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself." This account is recorded by three of the Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), because it is central. Only John sets it apart, not because he is unaware of the scene, but because he records Jesus' ministry from a different angle, more focused on his words.

In Matthew's account, Jesus does not simply quote this commandment. He qualifies it: it is the first, and it is the greatest. When those words come out of Jesus' mouth, you take them seriously. The Ten Commandments revolve around two poles: God on one side, your neighbor on the other. And everything begins with God. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before me." If you love your neighbor as yourself, you will not steal from him, you will not covet his wife, you will not do him wrong. The whole law rests there.

2. The Shema Israel: A Commandment Recited Morning and Night

Why did the Jews know this commandment by heart, to the point of reciting it without hesitation? Because it is part of the Shema Israel, recited daily, morning and night. Shema, in Hebrew, means "hear." But be careful: it does not simply mean "hear." It means "hear so as to act accordingly, hear so as to obey." It is a hearing that carries obligation.

You find this commandment in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Moses repeats the law to the new generation, the one about to enter Canaan without him. He begins with: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." God then adds a series of concrete images to show how far this reality must reach:

• In your heart, not carved on distant stone tablets, but written into you, so you have no excuse.
• In your house and on the road, the same inside as outside, in Montreal just as in Punta Cana or Dubai. It is not only a Sunday atmosphere.
• When you lie down and when you rise, the thoughts you fall asleep with and the ones that greet you at waking decide your day.
• As a sign on your hand, in all your activities, your work, what you produce, God must hold first place. Like an engineer who receives a ring on his little finger to remind him, with every professional gesture, of who he is.
• As frontlets between your eyes, in your vision, your way of seeing things. You do not hide God; he is visible on your forehead.
• On the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that those who enter your home know whose house they are entering.

God asks his people to write this everywhere: on the fridge, in the bedroom, in every room. Not out of superstition, but because this commandment is a mirror. It constantly reminds you who must hold first place.

3. Why Does God Expect This of You?

Two reasons emerge from the text.

To Protect You Yourself

By nature, you are a worshiper. If you do not put God first, you will end up worshiping something else without even realizing it. It could be your work. It could be a relationship. It could be a man or a woman for whom you are willing to set your faith aside. God, who created you, knows what you are made of. He knows how your heart can shift.

How many people have prayed and longed for a marriage, and once inside it, no longer have time for God? How many fall in love with someone whose stance on faith troubles them, and for that person's sake, abandon their walk with Christ? It will not last. God tolerates no rival. Whatever comes to take his place will sooner or later produce disorder.

You need to be able to say, right at the start of a relationship: "There is one thing in my life that is not negotiable. I would rather make things clear from the start. Jesus holds first place." And you need to hold to it. The preacher shares how, on two occasions before his marriage (once in his office, once in his apartment), he chose to abruptly interrupt a meeting, call someone, and open the door, rather than give in to something that would have scandalized his future wife, his children, and his ministry. Deep down, everyone knows their own fragile zones. Everyone knows where they cannot afford to play.

To Bring You Back to Your True Image

You were created in the image of God. You were raised up to love and worship him. By putting him back in his place, you recover your true self, the reason you were born. When God does not hold first place, there is disorder in your inner system. That is where pressure, depression, and endless conflict in couples come from, where everyone is only pursuing their own interests. A marriage where God is not first becomes a field of calculations. A life where God is not first becomes a troubled soul.

4. "You Shall Love": A Future That Never Stops

Look closely at the verb. "You shall love." In English, this sounds like a promise. In the original languages, it is a continuous future. An action that never stops. You love him this Monday; tomorrow, you will love him still; the day after, again. It is a process. The more you grow in the Lord, the more you will love him.

Nor is this a collective story. The text does not say "we shall love." It says "you." It is personal. Even married, your relationship with God remains personal. This is not about whether you obey this commandment perfectly, no one checks that box. It is about orientation. It is an invitation to never lose sight of the fact that first place belongs to God.

5. What Does It Mean to Love God?

The word "love" in the Bible is not first of all a feeling. The Shema, as you saw, does not just say "hear" but "hear so as to obey." In the same way, loving God is closely tied to doing.

Jesus says it himself in John 14:15: "If you love me, keep my commandments." There is nothing to interpret here. You can say you love God; it is your actions that will prove it. As Jesus points out elsewhere, you recognize a tree by its fruit. Fruit does not lie. It is what you use to evaluate.

So evaluate yourself honestly. Does God truly sit on the throne of your will? Does your life, your breath, your life force, this time that has been lent to you, belong to him? As Moses said in Psalm 90:12: "Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom." Your life is a breath. No employer can hold more space, in the span of time you have been given, than the one who gave it to you.

Key Takeaways

• Jesus calls this commandment the first and the greatest. It is not one detail among others, it is the foundation of all discipleship.
• The Shema Israel calls for a hearing that leads to action, not a distracted, passive listening.
• God asks you to put this commandment everywhere around you (in your home, on the road, at work, in your vision) because it protects you from worshiping something else.
• "You shall love" is a continuous future. It is not a box to check, it is a daily orientation.
• Loving God, biblically, means obeying his commandments. Fruit speaks louder than words.

Personal Application

1. When you go to bed tonight, what will your last thoughts be? And when you wake up tomorrow, what will your first thought be given to?
2. Is there an area (work, a relationship, a project) that has quietly taken the place God was meant to hold?
3. At home, on the road, at the office: are you the same Christian everywhere, or do you change depending on who is watching?
4. What are the areas in your life where you know you cannot afford to play? Have you put concrete safeguards in place?
5. Look at your fruit from the last three months. What does it say about your love for God?

Scriptures Cited

• Deuteronomy 6:4-9 · the Shema Israel
• Luke 10:25-28 · the expert in the law recites the greatest commandment
• Matthew 22:34-40 · Jesus calls this commandment first and greatest
• Mark 12:28-31 · the parallel account
• Exodus 20:2-3 · "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me"
• Psalm 103 · "Bless the Lord, O my soul!"
• Psalm 90:12 · "Teach us to number our days"
• John 14:15 · "If you love me, keep my commandments"
• John 3:16 · God loved you first

FAQ

What is the Shema Israel?
The Shema Israel is the daily recitation, morning and night, that every devout Jew makes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The word shema means "hear" in Hebrew, but with the precise sense of "hear so as to act accordingly, hear so as to obey." It is not a passive kind of listening.

Why does Jesus say this is the "first" and "greatest" commandment?
Because all Ten Commandments flow from it. If you truly love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself, you fulfill the whole law. This commandment is not one item among others, it is the root.

How do I know if God really holds first place in my life?
Look at your actions, not your words. Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Look at what takes up your time, your energy, your attention. What you defend, what you refuse to sacrifice, that reveals who truly reigns within you.