Jesus replied “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matt 22:37-40

A couple of weeks ago I went to collect my teenage children from church after their amazing trip to Soul Survivor, a fantastic five day convention for teenagers, where thousands come together to worship and learn more about God, aswell as indulge in water fights, foam parties and silent discos.  If you are a teenager or a parent with teenagers I would highly recommend it.  My children always come home completely on fire for God.  This said, I knew the whole coachload would be on a real high.  However, the one person who wasn’t was the coach driver!  From the second he got off the coach he was muttering under his breath and throwing his weight around.  He bellowed at a boy who knocked on the window to wave to a friend and barked as he unloaded bags and threw them at people nervously waiting for their luggage.

It struck me how quickly this had the potential to chip away at their happiness (and also the parents who were standing back observing!).  These teenagers had had an incredible time away with each other and with God and were revelling in the joy of that.  It seemed the coach driver was on a mission to single-handedly tear this down brick by brick.  The atmosphere was poisoned by his miserable attitude.  How much better would it have been for everyone, including himself, if he had hung his actions on this commandment.

Many people struggle in this world, not because of something tragic happening in their lives, but because of the little things that chip away at them day by day, grinding them down bit by bit…stealing their hope.  Many predators catch their prey in this way.  Picking at them until they lose the strength to fight back and defend themselves.

If we turn all this on it’s head and say “Why don’t we build each other up a little bit at a time?”, what a different world we would live in.  Encouragement is a powerful tool to lift people up.  Whether you’re a person of faith or not, learning to do everything out of love and care would make such a difference in so many people’s lives, including your own.  When you smile at someone in a shop or hold the door open for them you’re injecting something positive into their life and it also makes you feel good too!

The scripture says “All the Laws and Prophets hang on these two commandments” because it’s the ultimate way to live: To love God with all your heart, soul and mind and be rooted in Him and as he fills you with His love, to love others out of that.  It’s not always easy, but it’s worth the effort.  It’s often the small things that are the most powerful and have the greatest impact.  In what ways can you increase this in your life today?