The LDS Daily WOOL Home Page
(7/20/03)
"'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second
is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' (Matthew 22:36-40.) Jesus did
not invent this principle. Love of God was basic in the law of Moses: 'Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy might.' (Deuteronomy 6:5.) The law of Moses also contains an
injunction to love one's neighbor: 'Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge
against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself: I am the Lord.' (Leviticus 19:18.) Jesus' contribution was to bring
these two commandments together, quoting them separately but showing their
relationship to each other and also, as he so often did, showing how the whole
of religion stems from love for God and love for our fellow human beings." —
Lowell L. Bennion, "Legacies of Jesus," [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1990], p. 23