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The Great Commandment and New Commandment

  

The Great Commandment

The Ten Commandments are fulfilled in Jesus' Great Commandment: “You shall love...God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength....You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)

The New Commandment

Before his death on the cross, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (John 13:34).



Excerpts from The New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Psalms copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of The New American Bible may be reprinted without permission in writing from the copyright holder.

The Great Commandment

Jesus teaches that the moral life can be summed up in terms of love of God, self, and neighbor. The New Testament understanding of love is based on the Old Testament understanding of covenant love, which is that God's steadfast love will never waver. The Christian who cooperates with the Holy Spirit will not waver in his or her love for God. This is a love of commitment and action to a better personal relationship with God. It shows a true appreciation of how much God loves the person as an individual—as well as the person's willingness to serve the neighbor.