'Which is the greatest commandment?'

Mt 22:36 NIV

When Jesus was asked, 'Which is the greatest commandment?' He answered, 'Love the Lord... and... Love your neighbor as yourself' (Mt 22:37-39 NIV). So our greatest commitments should be based on the two greatest commandments. The problem is, we get involved with things that keep us from doing this. The Bible says: 'No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs - he wants to please his commanding officer' (2Ti 2:4 NIV). In other words, be careful what you commit to. There are three types of commitment: (1) Dramatic commitments. Like getting married or buying a home. Unfortunately, we don't consider the hidden costs. When we buy a house we think only of the additional square footage, not the extra hour each day commuting to work or the time taken away from our family. (2) Routine commitments. These may look mundane, but don't underestimate their power. Any parent who's signed up their child for a sports league knows the time-consuming potential of the routine commitments. (3) Unspoken commitments. These are the commitments we make to ourselves, but often fail to keep. In life, the dramatic commitments receive most of our attention, but the routine ones end up controlling us. Because there are so many of them and because they come on a daily basis and individually look so small, we don't sense the gap growing between what we say matters most to us, and what we're actually doing with our lives. So Jesus simplified it: 'Love the Lord... and... Love your neighbor.' When you measure your life by that yardstick, you've a better chance of living by the right commitments.