The Least Of TheseSample

SESSION 2: Living the Great Commandment

Following Christ means exhibiting Christ’s Great Commandment with our lives and the manner in which we love God and others.

DEVOTIONAL:

If you watch the movie THE LEAST OF THESE, you might think about Graham Staines more as a humanitarian than an evangelist. While he did tell people about Jesus, perhaps Graham’s most shocking and costly behavior was in how he ministered to people with leprosy.

In this scene and others, the journalist Manav Banerjee is seen as uncaring and fearful of people with leprosy. Banerjee stands in contrast to the life of Graham Staines. Self-preservation keeps us from carrying out The Great Commission and Great Commandment; love compels us to consider the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of other people above our own.

Our motivation for following the Great Commission is love for God. But it cannot stop there. “The second is like it” is a profound statement that shows the two commands are intrinsically tied together—if we love God, then we will love those whom God loves. Who are Christ’s followers to love? There are zero exclusions; we are to love everyone. Jesus added that a believer should love others as themselves. Love for others should equal or exceed concern one has for oneself.

TALK IT OVER:

1. Why do you think Jesus emphasized loving God with our heart, soul, and mind? How is loving God related to loving others?

2. In what way do you want to grow in love right now: Toward God? Toward your family? Toward the needy? Toward yourself?

3. How is love the essential dynamic of the Christian life? How does your relationship with Jesus change once you begin practicing his example of love?