Today’s Inspiration. I’ll be honest. After yesterday’s challenge post, I sat down this morning and had no idea where to go. What was next?

✔️Prayer.
✔️Bible reading.

I prayed. I explored. I thought. I took some new photos to use in the blog posts. I browsed through Hebrews, Colossians, Ephesians, and Romans. I thought about “Christian living” and Googled it. I thought about everything Jesus told his disciples and began to be overwhelmed.

And then I remembered that Jesus simplified things for us. (Well, he reminded me.) Although perhaps “simplified” is not the right word, once we begin to unpack what he said. Jesus told us—told a Pharisee, actually—that what everything boils down to is love.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34-40, NIV)

Love. Christian living is about loving.

Today’s Challenge. Jesus boiled all of the Law and the Prophets—everything taught in the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, down to two “simple” commandments. Simple, until we ask today’s question: What is love?

Um, yeah. Not so small a question. Google it and you get songs, psychology, dating sites, religious sites, articles from popular magazines, Wikipedia and dictionary definitions—it’s a big question that’s been asked for millennia. But Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord your God. Your task today is to explore the question What is love? from a Biblical perspective. Look it up in your Bible and see what God’s word has to say about it.

Today’s Participation. Take one thing the Bible has to say about love and use it to spark your creativity. Write a poem or journal entry or depict it in a sketch, painting, or photo. Share what you’ve done on Instagram using #writinglifeaugustchallenge, post something in the comments below, or show it to someone you see today to start a conversation about love from God’s perspective.