by Derin Carmack
I choose to love God with all my heart, my soul, and my mind, and my neighbor as myself! Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD our GOD, the LORD is One! v.5 And you shall love the Lord your GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might…and you shall teach them diligently to your children….” Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27
To the Jewish people, this is the most important text in the Septuagint. They refer to it as the “Shema,” since that is the first word in the text, meaning to listen in the sense of obeying. It is the central tenet of monotheism (the belief in one GOD). Moses was here trying to teach Israel where here priorities lay and how to guarantee that she would never forget them. Unfortunately, the people did forget and tragedy resulted. Hosea put his finger on part of the problem when he attributed it to their lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).
What prerequisite is there to loving your neighbor?
Who is your neighbor?
1) I commit to daily seek GOD and get to know Him by reading the Bible, GOD’s Word to me (GOD’s Word is Truth!): Psalm 119:11, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against Thee.”
Psalm 119:25, “Revive me according to Thy Word.” 119:32, “I shall run in the path of Thy commands for You have set my spirit free!” 119:42, “So I shall have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in Thy Word!” 119:66, “Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Thy commandments.” 119:74, “May those who fear Thee see me and be glad because I wait for Thy Word.” 119:93, “I will never forget Thy precepts, for by them Thou hast revived me.” 119: 98, “Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies…I have more insight than all my teachers…I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Thy Word.” 119:105, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” 119:130, “The unfolding of Thy Word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
2) I speak only what is edifying and for the building up of my brothers and sisters.
Ephesians 4:29, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who it….and let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice (evil habits of the mind) and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as GOD in Christ also has forgiven you.” Romans 14:19, I Thess. 5:11, I Peter 4:8, “Love covers a multitude of sins.”
3) I will not take offense at things said to me.
In JESUS’ Name I choose to forgive…just as JESUS forgave at the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Also Matthew 5:23-24, Matthew 6:12, Hebrews 12:15
4) Nor will I give any place or opportunity to the devil!
Psalm 101:3-6, “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me. Every perverse and crooked way I have put away from my heart, for I will have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness.“
5) I will silence those who secretly want to slander my friends, and I will not tolerate the proud and arrogant.
James 4:17, “Therefore to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
6) My innermost circle will only be those who I know are pure and godly.
Romans 1:18-32, “For even though they knew GOD, they did not honor Him as GOD, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened…professing to be wise, they became fools….for they exchanged the truth of GOD for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever and ever. Amen!” Ephesians 4:20
7) I will give of the work of my hands, SEED, to be multiplied into the Kingdom of GOD.
Proverbs 3:9-10, “Honor the LORD from your income, and from the first (tithe= 10%) of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.” Genesis 14:20, Genesis 28:22, Exodus 23:19, Malachi 3:10-11,
II Cor. 9:6-13 – … he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully … GOD loves a cheerful giver. And GOD is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance FOR EVERY GOOD DEED… Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; YOU WILL BE ENRICHED IN EVERYTHING FOR ALL LIBERALITY…
You + GOD = Majority
Last modified: October 26, 2025
