Reflection and Prayer by Anika Meldrum (college freshman)
Matthew 22:34-40
1. Why are these two commandments the greatest?
2. How can we better model this type of love in the world today?
Reflection: God made us—every single one of us. And going further, God has blessed us with so much. Every bite we eat. Every step we take. Every sin forgiven. All (and so much more) are blessings from our Lord. Knowing that God has done so many wonderful, awesome, powerful, things in our lives, shouldn’t it be automatic for us to adore, praise, worship, and love him? Of course, as humans we forget to adore him. That’s why Jesus made this his most important commandment. Secondly, knowing that our family, friends, acquaintances, enemies, and the billions of siblings in Christ we haven’t met are created in Christ’s beautiful and perfect image with a purpose and a plan, shouldn’t we automatically love our neighbors? But again, we fail. So Jesus makes this his second greatest commandment. How can we show our love of Christ and our neighbors to the world? As we live and breathe, we must become true Christians, copies of Christ and mirrors of God’s love to the world.
Prayer: God, Thank you for all the ways that You bless us. Remind us of these verses so that we might apply them to our lives and give back to You. Let us be a “light in a darkened world.” Thank you. Amen.
The 2013 Advent Devotions were written by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) youth and their leaders at the 2013 Youth Triennium. Each day provides a lectionary-based Scripture passage, questions for reflection, and the students’ responses.