Two big hooks

01 · GATHER ROUND

Start with a question.

“If your family could have only two rules, what would you pick? Why?”

Write the ideas down. You might be surprised how many smaller rules fit inside a couple of big ones.

03 · OPEN THE BIBLE

Everything hangs on these.

Look at the hooks by your front door or in a school cubby. Backpacks, coats, hats, a soccer bag—all of it hangs on just a couple of hooks. Take the hooks away, and everything ends up in a heap on the floor.

One day someone asked Jesus which of God’s commandments was the most important. God had given his people hundreds of instructions. Jesus answered with two: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Then he said something surprising. All of God’s law hangs on these two commandments. They’re the hooks.

When Mark tells the same story in his Gospel, he adds one more word: strength. Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength means loving him with everything you are—your feelings, your thoughts, and your energy. Not just on Sunday mornings, and not just the leftover bits. God wants all of you, because he gave himself for you.

And your neighbor? That’s not only the family next door. Jesus once told a story about a man from Samaria who stopped to help a hurt stranger when others walked right by. Your neighbor is anyone God puts in your path: your sister, the new kid, the bus driver, even the classmate who isn’t very nice to you.

Loving your neighbor as yourself means caring about what they need the way you already care about what you need. You notice right away when you’re hungry, tired, or left out. Love notices those things in other people, too.

Here’s the tricky part: nobody keeps these two commandments perfectly—not even grown-ups. We’ll talk about that in the weeks ahead. But Jesus did. He loved his Father with everything, and he loved his neighbors all the way to the cross. When we trust him, he forgives us and starts growing that same love in us.

04 · WONDER TOGETHER

Let’s talk about it.

1. How can loving God help you love someone who’s hard to love?
2. Who is a neighbor in your life who is easy to forget about?
3. What might it look like to love God with your mind? With your strength?

Try answering one yourself first. “I don’t know yet” is a fine place to start a conversation.

06 · TALK TO GOD

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, thank you for showing us what love looks like. Teach us to love God with our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength. Open our eyes to the neighbors around us, especially the ones who are easy to miss. Forgive us when we love only ourselves, and fill us with your love for others. Amen.

Then invite everyone to add one thing they want to tell God.

07 · MAKE IT STICK

A little truth to learn by heart.

Count it out on your body: touch your heart for heart, breathe in deep for soul, tap your head for mind, and flex your arm for strength. Then stretch your arms wide for the part about your neighbor. Say the answer with the motions until the whole family can do it without a peek.