2025 National Children's and Youth Ministry Conference

Jesus’ words have been somewhat elusive to me over my Christian journey. When I say “elusive”, I don’t mean that I do not understand what I’m supposed to do…but what exactly does Jesus want me to do. As you read through three of the Gospels in the New Testament, you find the followers of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, and Luke include this interaction in their story-telling of the life of the Son of God. I want to focus on Mark’s rendition of Jesus teaching because Mark seems to be more inclusive on what Jesus is calling us to live out in our own lives. Mark records Jesus’ spoken words for us in Mark 12:29-31.
As his creation, we are called to give him everything that we can in our life. According to Mark’s recording of Jesus’ spoken words that should include our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength. According to Jesus’ spoken words, it is not an option…we “must” do it if we want to be called disciples of the King of kings.
Living a loving lifestyle doesn’t stop with just loving on God. It also means I must love other human beings—no matter what—I love people exactly as much as I love myself, no exceptions