Love = Value as Precious (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37,40; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:25-28)

DEUTERONOMY 6:5 says, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might"

This is a very foundational verse in both the old and new testaments. It is repeated 3 times, under varying circumstances, in the Synoptic Gospels [Matthew; Mark; and Luke].

IN

Jesus is asked, which is the greatest, or most important commandment, to which He replies:

"You shall love the Lord your God IN your entire heart, and IN your entire soul, and IN your entire thoughts" (Matt.22:37)

[ Wycliffe, for the most part, correctly translates, using the word "in" (en,1722, Strong's), all your heart; "in" (en, 1722, Strong's) all your soul; and "in" (en,1722, Strong's) all your mind, instead of the word "with"].

OUT

The gospel of Mark gives us another perspective on the same verse, using a different Greek word, to emphasize a parallel truth.

"You shall love the Lord your God FROM OUT OF your entire heart, and FROM OUT OF your entire soul, and FROM OUT OF your entire thoughts, and FROM OUT OF your entire strength" (Mk.12:30)

[The Amplified includes the correct translation "out of" (ek, 1537, Strong's) your entire heart, "out of" (ek, 1537, Strong's) your entire soul, "out of" (ek, 1537, Strong's) your entire thoughts, and "out of" (ek, 1537, Strong's) your entire strength, instead of the word "with"].

"You shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength" (Amp)

IN & OUT

The point of difference, that the scriptures make, from the two passages, is that, if love for the Lord God, is IN our entire being, then love for the Lord God, will flow OUT OF our entire person.

LUKE 10:25-28

The third passage where the scripture from Deuteronomy 6:5 is quoted, is in Luke 10:27. In this verse, it is not Jesus answering a question, as to which is the most important commandment, but rather, "a certain legal expert rose up putting Him to the test, and saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Lk.10:25). To this question, Jesus asked the lawyer, "What does the law say: What is your reading of it?" (Lk.10:26)

KEEP ON...FOREVER

The lawyer responded, and Jesus confirmed his answer, as being correct:

"You shall love the Lord your God FROM OUT OF (ek,1537) your entire heart, and FROM OUT OF (ek, 1537) your entire soul, and FROM OUT OF (ek, 1537), your entire strength, and FROM OUT OF (ek, 1537) your entire thoughts, and your neighbor as yourself" (Lk.10:27).

To which, Jesus responded, that was correct, or the right answer, and then, His further response is recorded in the "present imperative" in Greek, meaning, "keep on doing this forever" (Lk.10:28) and you will live and have eternal life.

MOST IMPORTANT

This scripture is in consecutive order of importance, meaning that the most important, and necessary prerequisite to the remainder of the exhortation, is predicated by the fulfillment of the first portion of the statement.

SELF-LOVE

In reverse order, you cannot truly love your neighbor, unless you love the Lord your God, and in addition, the injunction is to love your neighbor, as yourself, meaning, you need to have a healthy valuation of yourself, in order to love someone else.

In fact, Jesus said, in MATTHEW 22:40:

"The whole of the Law and the Prophets is summed up in these two commandments" (Weymouth)

"In these two commandments, all the law and the prophets is contained" (Rotherham)

"These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets" (Amplified)

PURPOSE

In other words, everything in what we call, the Old Testament scriptures, points to, and is designed to bring us to the place of:

1) Loving God with everything we are.

2) Loving others the way we love ourselves.

VALUABLE & PRECIOUS

To say this another way:

1) we must value, and consider more precious, than anything, or anyone else, in our life; our Father God.

2) we must consider others valuable and precious, for who they are, not from some benefit that we derive from them. The only way we can embrace that way of thinking, and reality in our lives, is by seeing ourselves as valuable and precious.

GOD'S LOVE

To restate this central truth: We love God, our Father, with a healthy love, and by valuing Him above all else, we see how much we are valued; loved; and considered more valuable, than anything else He has created. When we see how much we are loved, and how valuable and important we are, then, and only then, can we see the intrinsic value and unlimited worth, of every other human person.

YOU ARE LOVED

You are loved with limitless, boundless love, so that you too, can love others, without limits, restrictions, or restraints. We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

You Are God's Best and God's Best is Yours