BiblicalInsights.net

“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord; And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:29-30).  Jesus affirms a moral hierarchy of the heart.  In Mark 12:29-31, He gives an order:  first, then second.  First, love for God must be supreme.  Then, love for neighbor.  There is none other commandments greater than these.  This does not mean the other commandments of God are not important, but that these two rank high in our understanding and practice.
Our relationship with God must be defined by our love for Him.  Love for God must be supreme, complete, intense, and authentic.  Love for God encompasses our entire being.  When we love God supremely, then obeying all of God’s commands follows.  When we love God supremely, then we will love our neighbor as ourselves.  Love for neighbor worketh no ill toward our neighbor.  It involves seeking the highest good for our neighbor and acting to accomplish it.
Love for God (Mark 12:29-30); love for the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33); and love for spiritual things (Col. 3:1-2) outrank other loves.  Consider some examples:
-When we put our own desire for recreation ahead of worshiping God, we have violated the moral hierarchy of the heart.  Love for God ranks above love for golf or any other form of recreation.
-If we love our family above love for God, we have violated the moral hierarchy of the heart.  “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).
-If we seek to preserve our lives from persecution and so deny the faith, we violate the moral hierarchy of the heart.  “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38).  Love for God is greater than love for life if and when I am called upon to give my life in service to my Lord.
-Love for your children is more important than love for your job.
-Love for truth is more important than love for popularity.  If someone tells you something in confidence and you tell it to others in order to seem important, you have placed the love of popularity (love of self) above love of friendship.  You have violated the moral hierarchy of the heart.
-When you demand your rights to the destruction of the souls of weaker brethren, you violate the moral hierarchy of the heart.  Romans 14:13-17.
Often when we violate the moral hierarchy of the heart, we are  putting self ahead of God and others.  Selfishness is the opposite of love (I Cor. 13:4-8).
A final thought comes from the writings of the apostle Paul.  Faith is important and essential, but it is not greater than love.  Hope is important and essential to Christian living, but it is not more important than love.  “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love-DS)” I Corinthians 13:13.  Love is the more excellent way!  Love has its priorities and these priorities define the moral hierarchy of the heart.